The Conventional Wisdom on Why Home Sales Have Stalled Is Wrong.

Lou Barnes, a Colorado real estate broker and commentator, has written a rambling diatribe against the theme of many recent real estate market analyses. Here it is in full: The conventional wisdom on why home sales have stalled is wrong | Inman News.

I can’t agree with him that the laws of economics have been repealed:  Rising home prices and rising interest rates simply must be cutting some buyers out of the market. It’s like saying 2 + 2 does not equal 4.  I do agree, however, that housing’s real problem is that the middle-class has not recovered from the Great Recession and if it had, the price and rate increases wouldn’t be stalling a housing recovery. The interest rate and price increases would be stalling things only at the bottom margin — and in fact they are. It’s just that there is no real recovery above that bottom margin because the middle class is still suffering.

What’s interesting is that Lou Barnes has a conservative/populist bent that leads him to decry as a cause “inequality, the new Darling of the Left.”  But he’s got his facts right in the article. And he condemns the Wall Street sector with just as much, or more, vigor. Go with the facts, housing can’t recover until the middle class does. So, roll that “inequality” word around in your mind a bit, Lou, and think of some solutions. They will be obvious if you do.

Lou Barnes is a mortgage broker based in Boulder, CO. He can be reached at [email protected].

Ann Heitland is a Flagstaff, AZ real estate agent affiliated with RE/MAX Peak Properties. Her website is BestFlagstaffHomes.com

Stay Up To Date

Contact Us

120 N Beaver St. | Suite 100
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
(928) 714-0001
[email protected]

Skip to content