(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 19, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.)
I still believe that a bottom is coming for housing in 2013. Some areas of the country, like the Silicon Valley area of Northern California, have already left a bottom far behind. On March 14, 2012, CBS This Morning ran a segment called “Silicon Valley Surge: Facebook IPO Creates Home Sales Boom.” One real estate agent interviewed in the piece claimed that the mini-boom in house sales really got jumping February 1st once Facebook announced its IPO. However, the following quote from a real estate agent really got my attention:
“There is nothing artificial about it. It’s people have the money.”
{snip}
“Here, when people are talking about the housing crisis, they mean the battle between buyers that is driving UP the prices of houses.”
{snip} Viewers are treated to several examples of VERY modest homes with asking prices over $1M that eventually sold for 20% and more above asking. This winner sold for 43% above asking:
Source: AJC News
{snip}
On the other side of the country in Florida, a 14-year old girl is turning a housing bust into profits. NPR’s Planet Money tracked down teenager Willow Tufano whose claim to fame is that she bought a house for $12K, with her realtor Mom, that she now rents out for $700/month. {snip}
Opportunity also abounds in the stock of publicly traded homebuilders. {snip}
Source: FreeStockCharts.com
Be careful out there!
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 19, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.)
Full disclosure: long LPS