Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[basserdan]

This takes the cake to-date as far as anecdotal evidence of a monstrous Real Estate bubble in the US – from The King Report:

The bells are ringing! The Washington Post’s Daniel Deane in "Everybody’s an Investor Now" reports even Playboy Playmates are playing the real estate market. "It feels as if Playboy's Playmate of the Month for May is speaking for the entire country. Fort Lauderdale native Jamie Westenhiser, 23, told the magazine recently that she is ditching her modeling career to take up real estate investing. In the magazine's May issue, Westenhiser poses in her lacy lavender baby doll, wearing nothing else except furry boots, leaning on a computer desk next to a stack of books with titles including "All About Escrow" and "Real Estate Principles." In her "playmate data sheet," she writes that her ambition in life is to have a ‘successful career in real estate.’" Shucks, we’re speechless.

In hot areas, properties trade only on speculation because prices are at negative cash flow. "’The properties that are on the market now are so expensive that unless you put down a large down payment, you've got negative cash flow,; said Robert Gratz, a lawyer and owner of several investment properties. ‘That's why I haven't bought anything recently. It costs money to own it and that's not a risk I'm willing to take.’" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/20/AR2005052000576.html?referrer=email&...

Ms. Deane has a second real estate speculation missive: "Developers Try to Limit Speculative ‘Flipping’" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/20/AR2005052000594.html?referrer=email&...

The NY Times quotes Easy Al’s on his concern about froth in housing prices: "Without calling the overall national issue a bubble, it's pretty clear that it's an unsustainable underlying pattern." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/21/business/21fed.html?th&emc=th