The stock market seems to be heading downward, the housing market has dropped and is still falling, the dollar is very low, oil prices are high and the mortgage market is still shakey. It sure doesn't look good to me. How bad are things in your area?

Please try to tell us more than, "things are bad." Are houses sitting idle on the market? Are home prices dropping? Are prices for consumable products increasing? Are people getting laid off? Are you seeing a lot of forclosures?

Aside from a change in administrations, what steps do you think government and the private sector need to take to turn things around? Fire away Vintage.

 

I live in Orlando. House prices are dropping, mostly due to the fact that most of the condos/houses sold in the last few years were A) sold to investors (2nd or 3rd homes or vacation homes) B)people trying to "flip" condo's C)oversupply D)the little or no money down mortgage programs and E) people buying "more" house than what they really could afford. I'll throw an F) in also, due to the raising insurance rates.

Job rate is still at 96% or more full employment.
Gas is roughly $3 a gallon, give or take.

I (meaning my family) own a small business-sales are maintaining the same levels as last year, if not making small increases. People haven't really stopped buying from us, maybe just scaling back a little, but the difference is made up by new customers.

I firmly believe that the gov't should stay out of this, it's up to the individual person/business to adjust. I know it's a vague answer, but what do we expect, a gov't funded program that keeps our mortgage rate at 3%?

All in all, it's a cycle that occurs, we just have to live with it.

 

Our area IS bad. We've seen some of the few manufacturing places left in the area close and lay people off. Many businesses are struggling, small business especially. The fishing industry is hurting. Many folks in our area just don't feel like there is much job security these days. Many are also feeling squeezed with the rising costs of energy as well as health insurance premium increases, new deductibles, and bigger co pays. Disposable income and "fun money" is dwindling.

I think many people have given up the idea of selling their homes for now. I haven't seen a "For Sale" sign in our neighborhood in over six months, probably closer to a year. I read the real estate transactions listed in our local paper. We've had weeks recently where the report lists "no transactions for this town."

I know the foreclosure rate is high in our county, though I can't say that I've noticed any in my neighborhood of "starter homes." I'd bet there are some in other areas nearby though.

What can be done? I wish I knew.............

 

I have never seen foreclosure signs in the twenty years we have lived here but they are popping up now. Since people are being very cautious about spending $$, of course, it is going to hurt small businesses. Construction workers alone have no work and since we have had a lot of bad press about illegal immigration, they are hit even harder if they are of a minority race. Being that we have so much presence here with the US government and the military people think we are insulated but that was before not now. Matt and I just hang in there and curb our spending. We have a financial adviser that we have had for years and she is doing the best she can with the stock market woes.

We will get through this ........ good luck to everyone!

 

I think the worst-hit areas are the areas that had outrageous housing price increases over the last couple of years. I mean areas where people were buying purely on the speculation that someone else would pay them more in a couple of months. (flipping) That kind of speculation is always eventually sustainable. We didn't see that here, but now we're not seeing the same downside.

One note on "property values." If you have to sell due to a transfer, etc. you care about housing prices in the short run. If you just live there, don't let it bother you so much. If the market value (price) of my modest home goes to zero, I've still got a very affordable place to live. I couldn't rent a comparable place for the same money, and rent, unlike mortgage payments, never ends.

The job market in this area is not so bad as some other places: it's the state capital, with a lot of insurance companies in the area. While it may not be a great place to live, it has always been a pretty good place to find work.

 

Palm Beach County was one of the very hottest housing markets until the crash started (shortly after we bought our house, of course...), and prices have fallen about 20% or so (on "normal" houses and condos) over about the past two years. As is the case elsewhere, the speculators and those who got into more house than they can really afford, using "creative" loans, are in the most trouble.

Statewide, in Florida the main source of income for state government is sales tax (there's no income tax on individuals) on non-food/prescription items, and it's being estimated that this will be down about 6-10% this year and maybe another 5% or so next year. The state universities are taking a proportionate hit, so it's something I hear a lot about.

Meanwhile, homeowner's insurance keeps climbing--where I live, premiums away from the very-high-risk coastal areas are about 1.5% of the home's market value per year, nearly a factor of ten greater than they were in New Mexico. That, of course, is part of the root cause of the sales slump.

This all seems to have relatively little to do with the national scene, however. Florida, and South Florida in particular, has been on a roll for a while and has hit a major speed bump. The boosters all say it's just temporary, but they aren't very credible. HPH

 

Economy's doing fine here. There is a glut of houses on the market, but prices aren't really dropping any; and that's a shame for a young couple trying to buy their first house. We are waiting until next summer to see how things shake out.

 

My county is one of the more affluent counties in northern New Jersey and as a result we aren't seeing many foreclosure signs, at least not yet. We do see a lot more houses on the market than we've ever seen before and they seem to stay on the market for much longer than they did in the past.

My township is fairly new in terms of being populated and there is still a bit of undeveloped land. A few builders recently built huge houses and put them on the market for $2,000,000. Many of us thought that they'd have a hard time selling these homes as they were a bit pricey for the area. Approximately 1/2 of them sold before the crash but the other half are still unsold. We've heard that the builders are cutting the prices by 25% just to move them.

Because the area is rather new, we've had a large amount of strip shopping centers and stores built in the last few years. Many of the stores are sitting without tenants, and we've noticed many of the once occupied stores are now vacant. We've not seen too many bankrupcys but many of the older merchants are not renewing their leases when they come due, and many of the stores quietly close up. There are many more vacant stores in the malls than I ever remember seeing before, and that's unusual this time of the year. Most of the stores that I've been in lately have looked overfilled with inventory and most of the merchants have told me that things aren't what they should be this time of year. Of course they say that every year, but this year I think they really mean it.

Across Route 10 is the old town of Dover, New Jersey. I've written about Dover in the past. It has always been a working class town serving Picitinny Arsenel and the surrounding community. Today it is a mixed town of largely Mexican and South American immigrants and old line Italians. About 1/3 of the stores on Blackwell Street (the main street) are either empty or have become antique emporiums. It's hard to tell if its the economy, or the number of Big Box Stores along Route 10 that are the cause, but I think lately, it's the economy.

Another sign of the times is that many more of the high school graduates seem to be opting to go to the county college for their first two years, and many are no longer too proud to attend state schools. In the past, many of the kids turned their noses up on schools like Rutgers, but today they seem willing to stay in state and go there. Of course it's hard to know how much of it is due to the winning football team and how much is because of the economy, but I think its mostly an economic decision.

Yet on the other hand, every kid seems to have the latest iPod, an X-Box 360, a Nintendo Wii, a cell phone and the latest laptop, so the economy can't be that bad, or at least the cash hasn't yet dried up completely.

Still, I am hearing more and more about some people in the community who are looking for jobs, more and more about people who are struggling to make ends meet and are "house poor", and I sense more and more people are very concerned about paying their bills. On the other hand, I see as many big SUVs on the road as before, and I know quite a bit of disposable income is going into the gas tank.

We no longer hear conversations in diners or restaurants about the stock market, investments, pensions or bonus' for taking new jobs.

I think people in my area have a perception that things are bad and are going to get much worse.

 

Once a big Ohio manufacturing area, that has been gone for 20 years. The area has basically become a summer resort and weekend destination. The rebirth has a lot more potential. However, the real estate market is not great right now. There are lots of condos for sale around here, and prices have fallen somewhat. There are a lot of retired and weekend 2nd and 3rd home people around here. There are some high priced houses that have been on the market for quite a while, but strangely there are also quite a few high priced houses being built in certain areas. There are lots of boats for sale, which is typical during economic downturns and times of financial uncertainty. Gas is 3.20 a gallon. There are few jobs to be had around here and very little opportunity for younger people. Government helps an area like this, when taxes and interest rates are low and consumers of 2nd homes and vacationers are confident to spend.

 

It should be no surprise to hear Michigan is in a depression. I'd feel a lot better if you'all said everything is cool in your state.

Housing: Only one of the five houses for sale in our hood has sold and all have been on the market since the summer before last. The one that sold went for 25% under it's appraised value. It's hard to imagine that the same houses use to regularly sell within two weeks to a month.

Job Market: There is none. Everything tied to the auto industry or services related to it's workers has either cut back or closed.

Stock Market: It was doing fine, real fine, up until about five weeks ago - October 9th - as I recall. Since then, not so good. I have to admit it has me wondering if should 'stick to the plan' or move to a safer ground.

Solution: Really, is there one? Electronic gadgets, but can that save the whole economy?