I know it’s the first of February and not the last Friday of January when I usually post my Noodling, but last Friday was crazy and besides I wasn’t interested in posting it. So here are a few interesting things that have passed through my door, they are all wide ranging and far afield.
San Francisco Bay Area Housing:
Housing values for resale homes are up over 25% for all the
counties in the region. Here is the report form KCBS on the increase in values,
multiple offers over asking, and buyer’s remorse when there is nothing on the
market to buy after selling. GO HERE
And homes that have sold for more than a million buckeroos
are also up. For the curious thrill seekers GO HERE.
All of this points to an increasing problem I have noted
in previous posts, there is NO forward planning going on in the housing market, especially California.
New homes are being built, that’s true, the public builders are building and
selling at rates not seen in years – but this is all out of existing mapped
lots and finished house pads (some five years old). The problem will become
acute in nine to twelve months when these run out. Prices will escalate
significantly, and if interest rates are kept artificially low (see Feds), then
they will explode. Be warned.
Electric Cars
I have supported the idea of electric cars, especially in
the urban market. But I don’t support the Fed’s and their Robin Hood dreams of
using tax incentives, grants, and loans to “make” us want a product. Sales are
lack luster to say the most GO HERE, and even after throwing together all the hybrids,
plug-ins, and all-electric into one stat, they only amount to 3.3% of total automobile
sales. Someone get a clue. Every major industry has their hands out for federal money (incipient socialism), recipients
of grants and loans are failing and declaring bankruptcy (guess who pays?), airports are
canceling free parking for electrics, and gas prices are (temporarily)
falling. The market is a tough place to understand – but it always speaks the
truth, whether you like it or not. If the Feds were to get out of the way and
let the market actually react to the product, it might have a chance.
And lastly:
A cool urban video, enjoy.
Toronto: City Rising
And an interesting one on high speed trains in Europe
with a very good narrative – Barcelona to Paris, my guess is that it was
sponsored by the California High Speed Rail Authority!
Stay Tuned . . . . . . .
