[quote=dbapig]”It’s just pathetic,” said Jenkins, 53. “Investors are going out there and outbidding everyone.”
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This is good, right? It suggests a couple of things:
(1) If most properties are facing the same issues (which is what we’re hearing), there’s a boatload of money out there willing to buy stuff up at the lower end. And the folks that get outbid are just moving on to other properties.
(2) Foreclosures are selling faster than they’re being created, which is why inventory is shrinking.
Don’t get me wrong – as I’ve said many times – I think we’ve still got downside ahead of us. But clearly the buying activity we’re seeing at the lower end is better for the economy in general terms than if we weren’t seeing it, right?
Also, almost all of these newly-purchased REO properties will need work done: painting, new carpet, etc. And there will be lots of new furniture purchases as well. And mortgage brokers and real estate agents will get paid here (albeit a fraction of what they were making during the heyday). Again, we’re not headed back to 2005, but all of this foreclosure sale activity will put a little boost into the economy that wouldn’t have been there otherwise.
