Feb-06
20
We Told You So
By
Wе һаtе tο tеƖƖ уου ѕο, bυt wе tοƖԁ уου ѕο:
Tһе hot St. Croix market took tһе bіɡɡеѕt hit wіtһ home sales dropping 22 percent іח tһе fourth quarter οf 2005 over tһе same period іח 2004.
Now, сουƖԁ іt bе tһе affect οf аƖƖ those property tax increases?
St. Croix County ɡοt a double dose οf bаԁ news іח tһе report. Nοt οחƖу wеrе home sales down, bυt tһе median sales price dropped bу 6.2 percent tο $194,300
.
I wonder wһаt tһе Swami Hazel Reinhardt, ATS&R аחԁ tһе аƖƖ seeing-аƖƖ knowing Task Force members һаνе tο ѕау now? see ѕtοrу
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Please note this most appropriate posting and related news article for when the HSO drops on Wednesday/Thursday. I believe there will be a reference in there to “just take a look around”. Thanks Mark P.!
Why don’t we just ask the candidates who are running for school board who voted to go with the $83 million referendum proposal? They should have the answer to your question.
If you think the market is dead now and pricies are falling now, just wait till they pass a referendum! Good Luck!
Good info Mark, but over the past years I’ve heard some pretty frustrating comments from people to our area.
First of all I was very disgusted seeing people, particulary young couples, buying expensive homes in Stonepine, Red Cedar Canyon, etc. with down payments of 0-5%. I have dealt with people who bought the homes, and couldn’t afford to fully furnish them because they sunk everything they had into the house. Two of my kids bought homes in the past five years, and being a typical dad I cringed at the prices they paid but so far things have worked out. I think dads are supposed to do that, and BTW both bought across the river. The funny thing is that one of them decided to remodel and add on which was a good move. They went to the bank for a home improvement loan and the banker did all he could to talk them into borrowing more then they really needed for the project, telling them they weren’t borrowing enough. No maybe this was wise, maybe it wasn’t, but they stuck with the smaller amount and are doing just fine. My biggest point and my opinion, is that over the past years banks, mortgage companies, builders, and other lenders were simply giving loans too easily. Alot of people simply cannot afford the homes they bought after a few years due to things that happened with jobs, life changes, and just getting into a deep hole. Do taxes have anything to do with this? I’d say its part of the factor, but actually my tax increases/decrease hasn’t been that bad over the past years, not saying it won’t get worse, but I don’t feel I’ve been taxed out yet. I also feel the increase in foreclosures will continue to climb, but the biggest reason for all of this is people simply getting in over their heads and getting a loan being too easy.
Now some other stuff that I found disgusting.
When several people complained to me about taxes I asked them if they’d actually researched them before moving here. Many told me no they hadn’t, the just wanted to get out of the metro and move to Hudson. When I’ve bought property I’ve ALWAYS checked the taxes and the potential for an increase with pending projects being discussed. People simply didn’t care about taxes, it was all about getting the dream home. For people to start whining about taxes after living here two years is hard for me to accept, since they didn’t do their homework.
And other people flat out told me they didn’t care about the taxes, they simply wanted to move here for quality of life and better schools. The “didn’t care” bothers me, but who am I to say.
Lastly, I guess if I got fed up with taxes where would I go? I have friends in Madison, Milwaukee, and Appleton burbs who have houses assessed at equal or less then mine, and pay higher taxes. I love Wisconsin but until the state does some things for the overall picture, I don’t know if there is relief anywhere.
And kind of funny, but I think buying property in Wisconsin now requires reading school board minutes and checking out planning or future needs where ever you are, and the local government and county happenings too.
Kind of like an older uncle was advised me. He said if your looking to join a new church, to find out if they had any construction or plans for a new church in the works before you joined! He said join one AFTER they built the new church!
It would not surprise me if there were many homes that were now upside down, that is owing much more than they could sell for. Throw in some exotic loans or varialbe rate loans on top of rising taxes and some of those young fols could be in tough shape.
See last weekends post:
St. Croix County – Yellow Brick Road is Lined with Debris
Good comments Blacklab. It is interesting you mention the part banks have to play in all of this. A few weeks ago, I finished reading Murray Rothbard – “America – Great Depression” [ a must read]. When I find the time, I plan to do a book review on it. The book highlights the point that depressions are the aftermath of a boom which was generated from easy credit policies of the banking system. Inflated credit policies [banks having an abnormal amount of money to lend] with its artificially low interest rates entice people [mainly businesses] to borrow and take risks above what would be considered prudent. In a nutshell, the resulting collapse happens when businesses and individuals are no longer able to service their debts. People tend to forget the principle of a debt needs to be repaid whether interest rates are zero or 20%. How often have we heard in the recent past school boards and the District Finance Directors use the canard that we need to build now while interest rates are low. An eighty-five to a hundred million dollar debt is still a lot in taxes no matter what the interest rates are
I’ve read part of it at a friends house, good read.
Regardless of whether interest is 1% – 20%, and although it may be wise to borrow when interest is low, the real question is how wise is it if your not sure your going to be able to pay it back.
The legendary Dr. Sarah Bridges is available for any grief counseling or psychotherapy sessions the LRPC’s may need.
She only charges $300 per hour.
The great 29 depression was a disaster waiting to happen and amplified by a know nothing government and Federal Reserve Boad or whatever they had back then. The gut reaction of the politicians was to raise taxes. Then came protectionist trade policies in the form of high tariffs. Top that with stocks that could be purchased with only 10 percent down just like the commodities (futures) market. A slight deep and brokers automatically sold their clients’ stock. Crash. October 29, 1929.
Un-employment went from 3.2 Percent in 1929 to 23 percent in 1932. In 1941 un-employment was still at 15.0 percent. Democrats were slow movers, it took them 12 years to bring un-employement down to 15.0 percent. And labor unions think Democrats should get high marks for running the economy.
Remember what we began exporting at a much higher level in the late 30′s – military equipment! The war was starting up in Europe, and the U.S. went into the lend-lease program, basically giving the equipment to nations fighting the Nazi’s, because they didn’t have any money to pay for it.
FDR didn’t pull the U.S. out of the depression – WWII did. The country needed people to build military equipment – especially after Pearl Harbor, and the actual U.S. entry into the war. The military became the consumer. After 15 years of holding back because of the depression and WWII, the pent-up demand after the war created a new consumer society. The factories created during the war were happy to make products for the new consumers.
I had a conversation the other day with someone who is very knowledgeable about the local real estate market. The word used to describe the market right now was “dead”. Could there be anymore homes for sale than there are right now? Plus we are seeing over one foreclosure a day in St. Croix county so far this year. If the bubble hasn’t burst in St. Croix county yet, I hate to be here when it does!
[...] I hope so, we pointed it out 29 days ago. See We Told You So [...]