569. Read Between the Lines re Home Sale Bidding Wars

This article by the Wall Street Journal can get you excited about the home market if you are selling, but, what is really happening? Let's look at Supply and Demand again. WHY is the supply of homes so low in some areas? Why is there more demand? Supply: Investors holding houses in foreclosure or not have held them OFF the market in anticipation of higher prices in future. These investors are SPECULATORS. Now that OBlunder gave the oars away again with dirt-cheap loans and increasingly lower and lower down payments, Fannie and Freddie have been sitting on foreclosures. They know the demand for those cheap houses would snap them up immediately; so, why put them on the market when you can MANIPULATE the home prices by reducing the inventory and forcing buyers to COMPETE for existing houses.Hence, the bidding wars! Who is winning the bidding wars FOR THE PRESTIGE properties? Why other investors who offer cash up front. Your dream house is being stolen by investors AGAIN! Same as before, but not as bad YET. We have an artificial reduction of supply and a speculative demand for the better properties. If you believe the article, it appears that California is leading the artificial manipulation AGAIN.WHO will get bitten this time? Hmmm ... the taxpayer? Ask your government WHY they are manipulating home prices by holding houses off the market. Does our government believe laws and rules are for meant for them, but are for everybody else? Or, pool your pennies with a bunch of neighbors (yeah, right) and join the speculators. If they are wrong, I'll guarantee OBlunder will again cry BAIL OUT. Didn't we learn from the economic failures?