Category Archives: Economy

Who to Believe? Case Shiller or Ken Rosen

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Misha

Case Shiller may be talking about double dip but Ken Rosen sees a somewhat brighter future for San Francisco’s residential real estate market. Here’s the doom and gloom at the national level from the recently released Case Shiller Report for … Continue reading →

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Double Dip — Again?

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Misha

Woke up this morning to NPR announcing that new home sales were the lowest they’d been in 15 years.  The housing market is already in a double dip, with some additional price declines  on the horizon, though we’re near the … Continue reading →

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A Chart is Worth 1000 Words

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Misha

A couple of months ago (gasp!) I promised to post my favorite charts from the UC Berkeley Fisher School of Real Estate and Urban Economics’ symposium on the state of the market.   I then got swamped working on my own … Continue reading →

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Is Buying a House a Good Investment?

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Misha

Among the scions of the real estate industry presenting at the Fisher Conference (see my previous post) was none other than Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist and Vice President of Freddie Mac.  He had a doozy of a slide set.  Here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, single family homes | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Ken Rosen Says “Buy Now”

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Misha

Just back from the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic’s semi-annual symposium on all things real estate.  (FCREUE is the real estate department within UC Berkeley’s Haas Business School.) Ken Rosen is the Center’s oft-quoted co-chair and quietly … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, interest rates | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Alphabet Soup Revisited: What Shape Will the Recovery Take?

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Misha

Back in the still-uncertain days of September 09, every market pundit had his or her own letter for what shape the recovery would take. I blogged about Ben Bernanke‘s “U,” Liz Ann Sonders‘ “V,” and Nouriel Roubini‘s “W” here. Though … Continue reading →

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Case-Shiller Sounds a Cautiously Positive Note

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Misha

Last week, Case-Shiller released January data for its closely watched national housing index.  Nationally, things are looking up – well, make that flat.  And that’s good news. In the wonderfully backward language of the report, the index’s year over year … Continue reading →

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Is Now a Good Time to Buy?

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Misha

In an article entitled Great Time to Buy (Famous Last Words), last Sunday’s New York Times took a swipe at perennially optimistic real estate agents who have never seen a time that wasn’t a good time to buy a house.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The View From Space: 2010

Posted on January 11, 2010 by Misha

The View from Space – 2010 Ken Rosen is a smart guy.  He’s the co-chair of the Fisher Center of Real Estate and Urban Economics at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and the investment adviser of choice … Continue reading →

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A Faltering Housing Market?

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Misha

George may have left office a year ago, but there appears to be a growing consensus that the likely shape of the recovery will be a “W.”  How appropriate, if you believe that we are reaping the bitter fruit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Market news | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment