Will the bursting R/E bubble hurt some guy in Montana or Texas? A little, but it’s gonna hurt like hell in Southern California
Popular sentiment, but i’m not sure if it’s entirely true.
On one hand, yes, we had huge runup in prices and Texas didn’t. So we have further to fall.
On the other hand, look at the list of places with most foreclosures. Half of them didn’t see much appreciation. Denver is #6. Memphis is #9. Atlanta is #12. Atlanta home prices grew barely 10% inflation-adjusted since 2001 and yet they are having more foreclosures per capita than San Diego.
Bubble in house prices may have been confined to CA/NV/AZ/FL, but lending standards were lax everywhere, and it’s much easier to overbuild in the Plains than in Southern California where it’s hard to find a good chunk of flat land that’s free of environmental restrictions within 1 hour drive from downown LA or SD.
I have a feeling that Texas has its share of $14,000/year ARMed Mexican strawberry pickers.
