Phoenix has achieved the unwelcome distinction of becoming the first major American city where home prices have fallen in half since the market peaked in the middle of the decade, according to data released Tuesday.
Money quote from Greg Swann, a Phoenix real estate agent: “We were living during the boom like there was no tomorrow. And guess what? Now it’s tomorrow.”
The house two doors down from us is for sale. The house across the street is empty and for sale.
The woman behind us and the woman next door, who was recently laid off, have asked my wife if she knows anything about loan modification . . .
It’s the last high school roller hockey game of the regular season.
One of the kids’ dads shows up for the first time and asks questions like, “Do they win most of their games?”
Do they win most of their games?! Are you kidding?! You should know that. Even if you don’t come to the games, you could ask your kid when he gets home.
Another dad has a great answer. “Come over here,” he says. “I want to introduce you to your son.”
Over on the moms’ side of the bleachers, they’re talking about financial matters. One woman is sad because they bought their house at the peak of the market and they’re financially stuck in it for the foreseeable future.
Another woman almost cries describing how 14 years of contributions to her husband’s 401k have been totally wiped out.
Meanwhile on the rink, Northwood dominates Capo Valley pretty much as expected . . .
First the bad news: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THERE’S NOTHING BUT BAD NEWS! THE HOUSING MARKET HAS COLLAPSED! GLOBAL MARKETS ARE IMPLODING! EVERYTHING IS SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL! THE FALCON CANNOT HEAR THE FALCONER! THE CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE IS DROWNED! THE BEST LACK ALL CONVICTION WHILE THE WORST ARE FULL OF PASSIONATE INTENSITY! EVERYBODY PANIC!
OK, now the good news: Hmmm . . . well . . . as long as I have a job, I can make enough to live on . . . I think . . .
My son suggests that we buy some red wheels for the SUV to match the color of the vehicle.
“How much would that cost?” my wife asks.
“I don’t know,” I say. “A lot of money.”
“But it’d be the pimpingest pimp sauce thing you could ever do,” the boy replies.
That’s what Ed McMahon’s financial adviser used to say when Ed said, “Are you kidding?! The only way I could afford that is to work till I’m 90!”
I take my cell phone out of my pocket and notice that the battery’s gone dead.
“Way to plan ahead,” my son says, without looking up from his GameBoy.
I recently sold a house in Laguna for $3.5 million. It was on about 2,000 square feet of land, maybe a twentieth of an acre, and the house might cost about $500,000 if you wanted to replace it. So the land sold for something like $60 million an acre.
