Sticky Downwards
By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, MooreIsBetter.com."Sticky downwards" is a term economists use to describe the fact that, generally speaking, prices rise faster than they fall. The reason, basically, is that a seller is quite content to raise his asking price, but reluctant to accept the grim reality that he is asking too much, and that he may even have to endure a loss on the sale.
Case in point: housing prices in Southern California.
The L.A. Daily News reports, "In Los Angeles County, the median price increased an annual 6.3 percent to a record $540,000, while sales fell 22.7 percent to 8,353 transactions. * * * In San Bernardino County, sales fell 46.6 percent to 2,476 transactions, and the median price rose 1.1 percent to $369,000."
Don't be misled by the "prices rose" statistics, because they are completely undercut by the "sales fell" statistics. That sales are down 22.7% and 46.6% tells you there are would-be sellers unwilling to face the fact that they are asking too much, and their houses are not worth what they think.
Assuming City Hall does not succeed in scaring all employers away from the city, this means housing, on its own, will become more "affordable" as the market educates the sellers about the actual market value of their homes.
And speaking of the price of housing, may I ask that the next person who complains that he can't afford to live in L.A. refrain from asking the rest of us to pay his mortgage, and that he instead move to San Bernardino County? Compare the median prices, above, of L.A. County vs. San Bernardino County: $540,000 vs. $369,000. Move there, and study, work and save until you can afford life in the big city. The world -- and in particular, Joe Taxpayer -- does not owe you a condo in Brentwood.
Posted by Walter Moore @ 4/13/2007 08:50:00 AM
10 Comments:
I've heard the refrain "Drive until you qualify" two times this week. It's in the latest New Yorker too, which has a decent article on commuting.
Good line. Perhaps we should amend it: "Drive or go Greyhound. . . ."
People complain about the lack of "affordable housing" in the City of L.A., but not in Beverly Hills, Palos Verdes or Malibu. Do they not "get" that it's the same concept? Not everyone can afford to live everywhere.
I agree Walter. In other words it's about delayed gratification, responsibility, saving, investing, moving to where the opportunities are, etc. And this applies to the so-called sub-prime loans. If buyers can't handle them now, tough, they'll have to take the hit (along with the banks) and plan more responsibly next time.
Yeah, the people complaining about sub-prime loans -- and wanting a taxpayer bail-out -- slay me!
They gambled on prices continuing to rise, on interest rates not going up, and on their incomes rising. They gambled and lost. End of story. Are we now going to tax people who are renting and saving to bailout the people who bit off more than they can chew?
What's next? "Affordable gambling?" Shall we provide low-cost flights to Vegas, a nice suite and a roll of hundreds to people who can't afford the high cost of gambling?
Walter.....
There's been some talk, especially from Chuck Schumer, about a Federal bailout for the low-income families with children (I.e. illegals) and the elderly who supposedly were hoodwinked into sub-prime loans and the like.
Do you think there is ANY chance that a bailout, either Federal or State, could possibly be in the cards???
If we taxpayers have to cough up more money for illegals who tried to get something for nothing...I will leave this State. Or maybe the country!!
I have a real bad feeling about this!
Rather than writing a check to the moving company, write a check to my campaign, would you? Every day, we get closer the the "critical mass" of $150,000 needed to qualify for matching funds -- and thereby get into the TV debates and newspaper articles. It'll be cheaper and easier to save this city than to move. Go to MooreIsBetter.com and click "contribute."
Complaining isn't enough. Signing petitions isn't enough. People have to start signing checks to elect real people in place of career politicians.
And speaking of the price of housing, may I ask that the next person who complains that he can't afford to live in L.A. refrain from asking the rest of us to pay his mortgage, and that he instead move to San Bernardino County?
Walter, this point is valid. As Joseph said, people can "drive until they qualify." A key part of that phrase is "drive." Sure, folks may not be able "to afford life in the big city" but that's where most of the jobs are. I thought "traffic" was a key part of your platform.
An LAPD officer might find a home in Beaumont, and a Century City parallegal might find a nice place in Victorville, but how would that help traffic? Also, how would that improve the quality of life for these people when they spend 3-4 hours a day on the road?
Your Mayoral campaign is going to be interesting. When voters ask you what can be done to address affordable housing, you're going to tell them to move out of town and suffer a hellish commute! That's going to go over really well.
4:52 - You may want actually to read the platform before you criticize it. I set forth specific proposals to make it easier -- you can call it more "affordable" if you like -- to live closer to where they work, and to commute much more rapidly.
But I'm not going to sugar-coat reality or lie to everyone. I am a reality-based life form. If you want a mayor who will lie, and tell you we can jam millions more people in here, all of whom will have a nice house with a yard, even if they dropped out of high school to have five kids by age 21, well, I'm not your man.
The voters who have worked their butts off, saved their money and taken out big mortgages to buy a home do not appreciate career politicians heaping more and more taxes on them to make it easier for other people, who have not worked and saved, to buy a house.
Here's the deal: you pay your mortgage, and I'll pay mine. Fair enough?
After reading Walter's comments at 8:40, I can confidently tell everyone on this blog that he will never be Mayor. Do yourselves a favor and don't contribute one penny to his futile effort.
Walter doesn't want to "jam" more people into L.A., but he wants to "jam" more people into San Bernardino County without giving one thought to the effect that will have on L.A. Walter, I've read your platform on traffic, but traffic doesn't begin or end at L.A. City boundaries.
Walter is contemptuous of the very people he wishes to serve. He assumes that everyone that can't afford a house in L.A. (which includes physics professors, pharamacists, and lawyers) hasn't "worked and saved" enough. Trust me, voters don't like to be insulted. Don't give a dime to this man.
9:04
BS, Walter is not insulting me. Rather he's preaching the message I want to hear. Plan responsibly, make the right choices, and if you can't afford LA, move or don't come here. In other words no big deal, just do the right thing. I'm sick of phoneys like Villaraigosa who cram "fee increases," bond measures, higher density, and "affordable housing" schemes (i.e., developer payoffs) down our throats.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home