Comments on: Residents Sweat Bushwick’s Foreclosure ‘Crisis’

By: mopar

mopar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:42:40 +0000

I have a theory about the 70s. An underlying factor was that massive amounts of employed people moved out of the city and into the suburbs in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Then city services were cut. Apparently there was no looting during the last blackout because they happened early in the day and police had time to respond before dark. As for mass migration, now people are moving back into the city center. I am clinging onto this small fact and hoping it means our world will not explode in 70s violence. But as for the M train feeling nastier, the murder rate is already up a few ticks.

By: Plazma

Plazma — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:43:14 +0000

Nice summary. I hope Bushwick doesn’t return to the ’70s and ’80s. Although it appears more likely it will. With so many layoffs in the city it could happen.

My M train ride seems to be dicier in the last month or so. I haven’t been robbed or anything close to that but people seem more stressed, a bit more angrier, nasty. I mean you see folks like this all the time in NY, we’re in Bushwick, but it feels more intense right, even for Bushwick levels.

By: Jeremy Sapienza

Jeremy Sapienza — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:51:31 +0000

Heh, if the economic shit does hit the fan, you WILL find me living in the basement and renting the upper floors.

By: mopar

mopar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:38:22 +0000

I’m not saying everyone can afford to buy in Bushwick – hardly! But if you can come up with the down payment and your household income qualifies, then the cost of owning is as cheap as renting. That’s quite unusual, historically, for New York City.

For example, a two-family in a short sale costs about $430,000 right now. With 20 percent down and no PMI, all expenses (including heat, etc.) add up to about $3,000 a month. If you rent out one apartment for $1600, then your rent is $1400. If you can’t afford 20 percent down, you’ll be paying an additional $300 per month in PMI, which brings your monthly costs to $1700.

There are cheaper and also more expensive buildings around. With a three-family — or living in the basement and renting out the other two units, which I believe is illegal — you’d pay almost nothing per month.

Two families here sold for about $600,000 in 2006, so prices have dropped about 40 percent. I don’t doubt prices of foreclosed houses are even less or will be, but you need a lot of cash to buy a foreclosure.

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:27:38 +0000

I think current stats remain hidden until the powers that be figure out how to massage them to best suit their needs – only yesterday did we find out that the nation has been in a recession for the past year (duh, most things we really know without the assistance of statistics, don’t we?). An old saying says there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Regarding housing prices in Bushwick doubling from 2000 to 2006 – problem is, this is more thanks to herd mentality than to anything else (kind of like our over-inflated stock market). The intrinsic value wasn’t there to support such a market increase – very little renovation of the houses and very little improvement in the neighborhood amenities needed to drive such an increase (unless you count new cars on the JMZ line).

Check out the first house pictured above (30 Woodbine) – NexTag estimates a projected sales price of $737,000!!!!

By: Jeremy Sapienza

Jeremy Sapienza — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:17:03 +0000

Mopar: What you might consider cheap, others may not. Also, it’s the uncertainty, not simply the price, that keeps people from knowing/believing the market has reached bottom.

Will: You’re right about the foreclosure rate, I could not find current stats and forgot to change the above section during editing. It’s fixed above (not perfectly, but whatever). As for the linked sources, I don’t care about obscure infighting among ideological factions; the article linked here is appropriate.

By: will

will — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:32:59 +0000

I should clarify, you should stop linking to the Mises Institute, it’s Kook Central.

http://unforeseencontingencies.blogspot.com/2008/01/note-on-mises-institute.html

By: will

will — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:17:51 +0000

Jeremy if you actually look at the PDF you link to you can see that Bushwick foreclosures have gone from 11.5 per 1000 in 1990 to 36.6 per 1000 in 2006. 2006! That is not 2007 or 2008 so you you shouldn’t imply that these statistics are current.

Meanwhile that document also shows Home purchase loans per 1000 houses going from 27 to 157.2 – I.E. lots more people have mortgages on thier homes now. And Bushwick has (and has always had) lots of subprime loans. And the median price of a house in Bushwick had doubled from 2000 to 2006!

These are some scary statistics for Bushwick housing.

P.S. Stop reading Mises. It’s Kook central.

By: DeniseVB

DeniseVB — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:59:01 +0000

I’m still in the market for a Bushwick vacation home, this is looking good :)

By: mopar

mopar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:52:07 +0000

Ahem, prices are already so low they are as cheap as renting — if you can come up with a 3 percent down payment and the $300 per month for private mortgage insurance. Seems to me this is pretty much a “natural correction.” But I’m not sure anyone is buying…