Do you believe in housing market cycles? Some analysts do and many markets are hitting an exuberant apex.
ByThe economy and stock market definitely go in cycles. Real estate was largely immune to this up until the late 1990s when creative financing was introduced into this largely boring sector. Aside from pocket bubbles and localized frenzies, real estate was a fairly drab and reliable asset class. That of course has dramatically changed. People forget about cycles and I am consistently reminded of Black Swan events. Over 7,000,000 people lost their homes to foreclosures over the past decade. 1,000,000 of these were in California yet somehow, the nonsensical drumbeat that buying a home is always a good deal is being echoed by house humpers. Back in the last cycle there were investors from Nevada and Arizona and they were simply adamant that no bubble was possible. “These places rent out and cover the loan!” Until local economies got hit. Or they were able to flip in a short period and make a good amount of money. Until prices went down. Some seem to think banking is fantastic again and fail to look at what just happened with Wells Fargo. Yeah, everything is Kosher. That time was different. Yet this time, it is a stable market even when magnificent crap shacks in the Bay Area are going for way above one million dollars. Cycles in real estate are now a thing thanks to the massive debt fueling this machine…
