Housing Bubbles and Other Troubles

Posted by Kevin Reifler | No Comments

Is your home overpriced? You could be a victim of an impending bubble collapse.

A recent report from Bubble Butt Consulting said ?sixty-five of the nation’s 299 biggest real estate markets are severely overpriced and may be subject to market corrections.?

No kidding. Some of these markets are absolutely crazy. For example, a refrigerator box in San Francisco goes for $235,000, double if you want an ocean view. When I was a kid, we used to play in refrigerator boxes, which were just lying on the street for the garbage boys to pick up.

We found the best thing to do was to take the box to a hill, get inside with three or four of your friends, and then roll down the hill, screaming as you bounced off trees and rocks and moose. We were rough on those boxes, but if you placed them in San Francisco, you could still get $150,000, especially if you draw nice windows on the side.

Another overpriced city is Naples, Florida. The problem with Naples is that it confuses itself with the Italian city with the same name. We have the same problem in New Jersey; we often confuse ourselves with Newfoundland and New Dehli and New and Improved. But then we sober up in the morning.

Housing prices in Naples go something like this. Five years ago, a nice two-story colonial went for $123,000. Now it goes for $38,000,000. Are these people insane? Is Florida the Enron state? Oh wait, there’s a typo. It’s only $380,000. Whew, what a bargain!

Of course, some cities are undervalued, such as El Paso. There is a reason for this. El Paso is right next to the Mexican town of Juarez, and is connected by a nice little bridge that you can stroll over and get some good cheap beer. Plus there are hookers. Everywhere. You pull up for gas and they?ll clean your windshield, change your oil and pull your dipstick. Not a bad deal, and you can put the whole thing on your Exxon/Mobil card.

Anyway, hookers and dipstick pulling tend to depress housing prices, unless you are in Las Vegas, which is another story.

Finally, there are some markets that are right where they should be. Like North Dakota. You can buy a mansion in Bismark for $12.95. Of course, snow shoveling service is $435,000 per snowfall, so everything equals out in the end.

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