Unless you live under a rock you probably heard about the market meltdown today. Our gubment was unable to push through the 700 Billion bailout despite pleas from Bushy and the financial geniuses at the Fed and the Treasury. I was even a little shocked that it didn't pass. As soon as the news hit the wires the markets went off a cliff (and they are still diving, the Nikkei is down over 500). Our financial Ebola has found it's way to Europe and now their banks and brokerages are failing.
With all this hitting the news every night I have to wonder, who is still looking to buy a house? I was planning on seriously looking in early 09. Prices in my target areas are starting to hit the "magic number" that I had set 2 years ago. But now I have more to think about. If this continues, are our jobs safe? My wife is in healthcare so she is relatively immune to economic fluctuations. My job however is directly connected to defense spending. If the gubment runs out of money they might decide they don't need the new fangled time machine I'm designing. They might decide to cancel Deathstar that our sister division is building. And what will we do with the clone army? Those guys have to eat and that's not cheap. Especially at government rates where a hamburger costs $500.
Undoubtedly this will make a lot of buyers think twice before buying a home. The other question, and the one the government is worried about is, will there be any banks around lending money to buy homes. Will the government step in and start giving out low interest loans? Personally I think that would be the quickest way to get the market moving. A gov sponsored disaster type loan program could keep the real estate market moving. Although I would only favor this if they screened the applicants and ensured they could afford it.
That's all for now, I have to head off to Costco to buy as much rice and bullets as my car will hold....