Dr. Housing Bubble 12/03/09

[Crewleader]

Wall Street and Housing Neurosis: The Real Cost of California Homeownership. Extreme Foreclosures, Option ARMs, Renting Utility Costs, and Breaking the Financially Twisted Psychology.

The housing bubble psychology in California is still very strong. I’ve been talking with a few people trying to examine why the housing market, with obviously overpriced values was able to entice many otherwise rational people to take on toxic mortgages like option ARMs and Alt-As. As we have discussed many times, much of the economic crisis stems from greed by the crony banking oligarchs on Wall Street but also the foot soldiers who pushed the product out on the street. In the last decade most buyers and sellers were willing or unwilling participants in speculation. Housing since World War II on a national level has rarely been seen as a “hot” investment aside from a few pockets across the country. It is an otherwise dry and slow moving forced savings account.

This was the crux of how housing was viewed. But in California, the gold rush mentality with the glitter of housing fixation shows made buying and flipping homes mainstream. Take for example the well meaning Extreme Home Makeover show:

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/wall-street-and-housing-neurosis-the-real-cost-of-california-homeownership-extreme-foreclosures-option-arms-renting-utility-costs-and-breaking-the-financially-twisted-psychology/