Real Estate

Looking out the window of my house, it's hard to believe that today is August 1st. The skies are gray, gloomy, and covered with clouds. In the heart of the summer months, all we get out here along the Coastline are cold and ugly weather. It's a paradox to call this district "Sunset," when the sun never comes out, let alone sets. Ocean beach is literally only 3 blocks away from my house, but I hardly get to use it. The weather is simply too cold to be outdoors.

As bad as the weather is out here, I find it unbelievable that people are still willing to pay big bucks to live out here. The lowest asking price for any house in the Sunset district has risen to half a million. The fixers are actually the only ones with the half a million price tag. Move-in condition houses go at least $600,000. Some ambitious (or greedy?) sellers are even asking for $700,000 for their tiny hut. Sound ridiculous? Well, it's happening. People, for whatever insane reason, are wiling to bid well over the asking price, thus driving up the overall neighborhood cost of homes. Other homes follow suit. As the snowball gets bigger, I can't help but wonder if the real estate bubble will ever explode?

Just a few years ago, practically every conversation evolves around stocks: the Dow, the NASDAQ, the newest IPO, you name it. Everyone had a share of something in the stock market. Now, a few years later, every social conversation involves real estate investments, the housing market, and interest rate. It's scary how everyone is trying to get onto the bandwagon for a joyride in real estate, just as they did in stocks a few years back. When the mass public all decide to grow their money in the same venue of investment, the prices tend to be inflated. Supply and demand: Simple economics. Given all this happening, I will not be surprised when eventually, the housing market will reach its limits. I sure hope the bubble won't "pop" per se, and I myself have my investment in the housing market as well. Hope it will just level off. Yep, level off to a more realistic and reachable level.