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Ivy Zelman: “I Think We’re at a Peak”

 “I think that there’s risk that these investors are being misled.” Ivy Zelman became famous on Wall Street when she correctly called the housing market top in 2005… and almost lost her Wall Street job because of it. She created her own company and then correctly called the housing market bottom in 2012. After that, she was bullish on housing until last year.  Last summer, her housing market research and investment banking firm, Zelman & Associates, came out with a bearish report that cemented her reputation as one of the most independent – and sometimes most contrarian – housing market analysts in the U.S. housing industry. Her disagreement with the…

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Today – “These prices are crazy but they’re increasing so fast, let’s buy something ASAP”

 This summer will it become, “These prices are crazy, let’s wait and see”? My working theory is the Fed started the house price boom when they slashed interest rates again last year after cutting them throughout 2019. In addition, Covid increased demand for houses. In addition, Covid also cut spending on restaurants and travel so people were saving a lot more than usual. At the same time, the 3 stimulus packages may have helped some potential first-time homebuyers pay off their credit card debt, save up more down payment money, and generally become a bit more ready to buy their first house. But, I think, the second most important reason…

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If You Own a House with a “Challenge”, Now Would Be a Great Time to Sell It

 Kristin LaVanway makes a great point in this video at about 9:37 in. I was just thinking the same thing. I remember being surprised back at the top of the market in 2005 that prices for houses that backed to busy streets were about the same as houses that didn’t! The backyard is a lot less useable with all that street noise. Very few houses were for sale back then, like now. If you wanted to buy, you didn’t have many choices. In a normal market, you would have had a lot of choices so most people wouldn’t buy that noisy backyard unless the house was cheaper. I was surprised…

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