David Min, Part 3 – Housing’s Recovery… Fact or Fiction? A Mandelman Matters Podcast

Part 3 of my interview with UCI Law Professor David Min contains a discussion between David and I that might normally be left on the cutting room floor.  It’s a discussion that wasn’t intended to be a part of the final podcast, but after listening to it, I realized that it was very likely a discussion that many would want to hear.

If you’ve already listened to parts one and two of David’s interview, then you’re all set to tune into this third part… but even if you haven’t heard the beginnings… you can still jump in here and then go back to part one after you’ve listened to Part 3, because this part really does stand alone.

It’s all about the housing market and the torrent of happy news that we’re all hearing on essentially a daily basis… is any of it true?  Are we seeing any sort of actual recovery in our housing markets?  Have we hit bottom anywhere?  And if so… why?

What would have caused such a wonderful state of affairs to befall our housing markets when we know unemployment has only worsened… GDP has fallen… wages have remained stagnant… at best… the credit markets are still broken… roughly half the country is still underwater… sales volumes are comically low… first time borrowers are still mired in a mix of student loan debt and common sense… and foreclosures have slowed due to state laws and the mandate for new servicer standards.

We’ve lost more than five million homes to foreclosure since 2008, and according to all published data at the end of 2012, we’ve got millions more seriously delinquent or at risk… but somehow housing is defying all laws of economics and has inexplicably launched itself into a recovery all of a sudden?

Okay… if you say so.  But, is there anywhere I can go to bet on this stuff?  If you hear of anyone in Las Vegas making a line, please let me know.

Well, in Part 3, David Min and I debate the housing market and general economic data to examine what’s potentially right… and what’s undoubtedly just blathering by the PR machine of the NAR once again.  We start off trading statistics and end up reaching a conclusion… 

To find out what we concluded and why,

just turn up your speakers and CLICK on the BIG RED ‘3’ BELOW

Mandelman out.