Now the home builders want a bailout.

[freeradical]

Don't worry; they only want $250 billion.

"The builders' lobby is ramping up its sales pitch for a $250 billion stimulus package called "Fix Housing First," arguing that financial markets won't recover until home prices stop falling. They are calling for a generous tax credit for home purchases and a federal subsidy that would lower a homeowner's mortgage rate."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748520112251743.html

[$tevie]

Wall Street seems to be digging the heck out of these bailouts, that's for sure.

[mattkime]

yes, the fix for the down side of the housing bubble is more funding for housing

[GGD]

With this whole housing bubble, and all of these people buying brand new houses that they really couldn't afford, the ones who certainly made out on this were the builders of the house and the Realtors that sold it. They made their profit at the time of the sale with no risk beyond that point.

[rgG]

GGD wrote:
With this whole housing bubble, and all of these people buying brand new houses that they really couldn't afford, the ones who certainly made out on this were the builders of the house and the Realtors that sold it. They made their profit at the time of the sale with no risk beyond that point.

But now they are all basically out of jobs.

[Seacrest]

rgG wrote:
[quote=GGD]
With this whole housing bubble, and all of these people buying brand new houses that they really couldn't afford, the ones who certainly made out on this were the builders of the house and the Realtors that sold it. They made their profit at the time of the sale with no risk beyond that point.

But now they are all basically out of jobs.
Apparently none of these people ever read Aesop's fables as children (or watched Rocky and Bullwinkle, even).

Surely there were tales there that dealt with these issues.

All the way up the chain, incentive structures were based on churn rates which were simply not sustainable, and now they're suffering the consequences.

[karsen]

Print more money!

[mattkime]

rgG wrote: But now they are all basically out of jobs.

we found the silver lining!

[GGD]

mattkime wrote:
[quote=rgG]But now they are all basically out of jobs.

we found the silver lining!
If they're willing to relocate there might be some demand for rebuilding after hurricanes, tornadoes and wild fires. Of course then the Insurance companies will have their hand out for a bailout.

And the Realtors can still make money by reselling the houses that are in foreclosure.

[Mac1337]

I always wondered why not just give the money to the people so they can payoff their mortgage. Wanna help GM? Send me a check for $35K and I'll take that Tahoe off their lot. How many cars does $25B buy? I guess if you did it this way, you couldn't hide the absurdity of it all.