Weekly News Round-Up

MSN Money ran a story Monday by Bill Fleckenstein titled “The End of the Superbubble.” Apparently “bubble” isn’t descriptive enough, and now we are referring to the past flourishing economy as a “superbubble.” And while we all know it is coming to an end, and taking (the worlds’) housing, credit, banking, and car markets with it, apparently Alan Greenspan is to blame. “Behold the wretched beast he created,” writes Fleckstein, and I must say I do admire his prose. Do I agree? Do you? I’m hesitant to blame any one person for such a widespread faltering of the economy, but he tries to make a case for just that.

Seeking Alpha got out the crystal ball and is asking “Will Housing Bottom in 2010 or 2012?” With phrases like “lagging indicator” and “multi-dip recession,” it gets a bit technical, but you might want to see what they say.

We are already seeing the effects of the drop in tax revenue in California, as I am sure they are across the country. Businessweek provides some insight in their article “The Next Victim of the Real Estate Crisis,” which addresses the decreased cash flow to governmental budgets and what types of cuts we are likely to see.

California Fire Update: The top third of the state continues to be plagued by the majority of active fires, while SoCal looks quiet for the time being. CalFire reports a total of 72 active fires at this time. Locally, the Basin Fire down near Big Sur is still actively burning (3% contained as of yesterday), covering over 50,000 acres, while the Indians fire is almost completely contained. Air quality is continuing to improve in the Bay Area, but if you are traveling, make sure to check resort areas, and possible road closures.

Quickdraw McGraw, that’s what I’m gonna rename Socketsite. They already posted June RE numbers for San Francisco. Lightening fast, they are. Unfortunately, the sales aren’t on the same trajectory, and are sloooooooowing down. While listings are up 34%, sales are down—to the tune of 25-30%. For visuals, and the full scoop, you can head over here to their “Listed Sales Activity” post.

Burbed helped to explain how Bay Area housing can be labeled “affordable.” Their recent post on Bay Area Jobs, shows that the average wage for a tech worker in San Jose/Silicon Valley is $144,828. If you are a married couple each with that kind of income, woohoo, you are probably in heaven right now, doing the eeny, meeny, miny, moe trick, trying to decide which of the 1,000 houses in your price range you want. As for the rest of the poor……