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See the original image at economist.com —

American Map of Misery

economist.com — America may well be only halfway through the house-price bust ........The biggest uncertainty hanging over the economy is how red will things get.

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  • goscript, on 05/11/2008, -7/+7"We are sorry that we are unable to display the page that you should see here. We have recorded the problem and we will look into it soon.

    Continue to the homepage"

    WTF?
  • WCL23, on 05/11/2008, -15/+4This is why America needs Obama. It's about time someone started focusing on the home front over in the states, rather than spending (and plundering?) trillions on foreign war zones.
    • pagalchu, on 05/11/2008, -2/+10so you expect Obama to bail you out? You want Obama to fix everything when you buy a house you can't afford? Next you want Obama to pay for your credit card. And then everybody want Obama to pay for their gas guzzlers SUVs. Keep one thing in mind that people like you and others created this housing crises we are having. you and your 16 years old kid wanna drive gas guzzlers SUV. You want $600 iPhone on credit card. You putting too much faith in Obama. Remember he is another politician. We need to fight war on terror. Safety and security is more important then luxury cars and sexy phones.
      • BetterOffEd, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1You make several great points.

        However, it should be noted that the war in Iraq is not fighting the war on terror. (I realize that you didn't SAY or may not have MEANT that specifically, but just wanted to clarify.)
      • marx2k, on 05/11/2008, -0/+4Agreed. Americans have become a typical college student away from home for the first time, expecting mom and dad to help pay the rent, the food bills, the gas bill, etc. Personal responsibility is so... last year
      • benexor, on 05/11/2008, -2/+1credit regulation is broken.
    • govsucks, on 05/11/2008, -2/+8The Change Obama is talking about is the change you will be getting out of your paycheck after the government is done with it. Does anyone find it funny that it seems to be mostly the high brow liberal states that are mostly red? Funny how California, home of "lets not judge anyone", is in the most trouble for not judging people before providing them with loans. So get to it red states, it time to bail out liberal thinking....again. Like I said before, vote for Obama, our next Jimmy Carter. Then his socialist policies can finish the job "compassionate conservatives" didn't finish and perhaps we as a people can be finished once and for all with the failure that is big government and socialism.
      • AgentGulo, on 05/11/2008, -0/+0ohio's not very 'liberal'..
        other than that good work
  • LimeParrot, on 05/11/2008, -8/+10Maybe ECONOMIST.COM should of used their economy skills to purchase better servers.
    • Hoogs, on 05/11/2008, -1/+7should have*
    • LimeParrot, on 05/11/2008, -2/+2It appears my attempted cynicism has backfired. *shaves head and cries in the corner*
  • tallonx, on 05/11/2008, -0/+10the servers aren't even down :D
    • goscript, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2It was a problem with the story url, not with the servers.
  • Rustymetal, on 05/11/2008, -8/+8Thats funny it says no change in Florida but my condo that I bought for $210k 2 years ago now sells for less then $130k.
    • WolverineBlue, on 05/11/2008, -0/+10No, it says "decrease or no change." That would fall under the decrease category.
    • bwilliams80, on 05/11/2008, -0/+7Hardest hit have been the “bubble states”—California, Nevada and Florida, as well as parts of the industrial Midwest. The biggest uncertainty hanging over the economy is how red will things get.

      red = bad
  • taradisiac, on 05/11/2008, -3/+17Yeah let's all cry for people who were too stupid to foresee this.
    • merien, on 05/11/2008, -1/+6Even if you foresaw it you do not always have a choice. People do need to live and sometimes do need to move. maybe because of children of a new job. Of course you should not borrow more than you can afford.
      • taradisiac, on 05/11/2008, -1/+9Why did they have children if they weren't ready to support them?
        • sodade, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2Watch how you get dug down for that. Americans think that it is their right to zerg the system with their oh so precious offspring.
        • RationalXubrnce, on 05/12/2008, -0/+4 Dont worry there are plenty of poor and unintelligent people who will be happy to have the children that responsible planners are afraid to have. Makes me wonder what this country will look like in 100 years.
    • Jus2Gud, on 05/11/2008, -3/+2Funny, you could say exactly the same thing about people who have houses on fault lines when a natural disaster occurs, yes I believe better decisions should have been made but calling them stupid to foresee this is just an unnecessary slap in the face, which isn't entirely true either.
      • sodade, on 05/11/2008, -0/+5I moved out of the Bay Area - we know that there will be a major earthquake there at some point. The east bay fault (forget the name 'cause it ain't my problem anymore) is long overdue for a real big shake. When people's million dollar tract houses come crumbling down, I am not shedding a tear. When I make a bad stock investment, I have to suck it up and eat it. Why should we look at real estate any differently?
  • IronDonut, on 05/11/2008, -3/+6I think the American economy is a serial bubble blower.

    .com bubble and bust lead to the real estate bubble

    The real estate bubble and bust is leading us to the alternative energy bubble?
    • rockefeller2, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2Oil bubble
    • oldgal, on 05/11/2008, -0/+3credit card bubble
    • marx2k, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2Bubble Bobble bubble
    • AgentGulo, on 05/12/2008, -0/+0bubbles bobble and they do fall down
    • RationalXubrnce, on 05/12/2008, -0/+2 A bubble is just targeted inflation. When the government made loan money for housing cheap and easy to get they knew what would happen.
  • nascarnate326, on 05/11/2008, -0/+10Yep, we are screwed here in Michigan.
    • WolverineBlue, on 05/11/2008, -2/+5Yeah, but we've known that since Japan started taking the auto industry.
      • empraptor, on 05/11/2008, -3/+3True. But our car makers should have adapted faster and made small reliable cars, instead of trying to do business as usual by focusing on big gas-guzzling cars.
      • freddc, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2Not all of the nation can be served by high-rpm / low-torque engined cars. GM just happens to bring performance to the masses for far less than Japan.
    • AgentGulo, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1go buckeyes ;)
    • Soulbow2, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1And here in Florida.
  • elig, on 05/11/2008, -5/+41Map of Misery? Uh...

    When milk goes down in price, it's great.
    When gas goes down in price, it's great.

    When houses go down in price, it's somehow a catastrophe? I dream of home prices falling 30-50% and returning towards alignment with rental prices, no longer propped up by crazy-ass ARM suicide loans with no down payment or credit checks.
    • WolverineBlue, on 05/11/2008, -6/+4A lot of us already own houses, if you had bought a lifetime supply of gas yesterday, you'd be pissed if there were a sudden price drop today. (especially if you wanted to mortgage your gas)
      • N0vember, on 05/11/2008, -0/+8So, that's more a map of wealthy people annoyed by their capital diminishing, than a map of misery.
    • ipen, on 05/11/2008, -6/+6Milk is an expense.
      Gas is an expense.
      A home is an asset.
      • Nation, on 05/11/2008, -1/+8your personal residence is a liability to you ... it requires upkeep, in taxes and repairs, not to mention most people don't own their home out right (have a mortgage on it) ...

        There are some benefits to owning it, and generally the price does go up, but it really is just because there is a need to live somewhere, but you could rent to fulfill that need.
        • toebitus, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2i take it that you have so much extra money laying around you have no worry s at all..i had a paid off place once...i put all my money in the bank 3 out of 4 paydays a month..i felt great
      • elig, on 05/11/2008, -0/+4A home is only an asset if you already own one.

        If you're a young person like me waiting for a purchase opportunity, the lower home prices go, the less of an expense your mortgage will be!
    • empraptor, on 05/11/2008, -3/+4Milk and gas are consumable. A house you use and can sell later - and you may have sunk a lot of money into it. I doubt many people would sink $100,000+ into milk or gas so they can store it for years then sell it.

      So milk or gas price going down may seem great for most us. Not true with prices of houses.
      • carlosos, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2Does nobody think of those poor oil companies that "lose" money if the prices go down?

        There is always someone "losing" or "gaining" money when prices change. The people that own a house hate the prices to drop (the assets lose value) but the people that want to buy are happy because the homes get more affordable for them to buy.

        I'm one of the people that hope that the prices continue to decrease so that they reach a normal level again like many states have (damn expensive homes in Florida).
    • SRSco, on 05/11/2008, -3/+4I can't believe you are getting diggs. You clearly misunderstand economics (and clearly aren't a homeowner.)

      Try reselling a house now worth $200,000 that you paid $350,000 for.
    • StillAnonymous, on 05/11/2008, -0/+3Low housing prices are good for nearly everyone. However, it's the decreasing price of housing that hurts existing owners, but only if they want to sell.
      Ideally, housing would increase in price in line with inflation, and assuming inflation is kept to a small amount, it's all good. You wouldn't have clowns speculating on real estate and screwing it up for people who just want a place to live.
    • Gemfinder, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1You can live without milk or a private vehicle. Without a home — where are you?
      Housing is a necessity.
      • AgentGulo, on 05/12/2008, -0/+0I DEMAND MILK DAMN IT!!!! you don't take into consideration those who are dependent on milk do you? do you know how it feels for me not to have milk? i need milk, i must have milk, i can't live without milk or my stomach may just implode. /sarcasm

        on the real though, i am actually addicted to milk so higher gas prices do mean more money spent on transportation costs which means milk costs more which means that gallon i drink a day costs me hundreds more a year, i could live without a house or my apartment though..
    • RationalXubrnce, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1 There's pain either way. There was pain when housing rose so high to become ridiculous. And now there will be pain on the way back down.
  • mik3pass, on 05/11/2008, -8/+4Hahaha. ***** California.
  • boogershark, on 05/11/2008, -3/+2It seems the key is labled backward!
    • pappyblueribs, on 05/11/2008, -0/+0Yeah, it does look that way. Strange.

      Unless they are saying that there is very little drop in house prices in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. Which, I guess, could be true, despite the record level of foreclosures there.
  • salmagundii, on 05/11/2008, -1/+12Hmm so all the blue states are now red states?

    Check out the similarities between the above map and the 2004 US electoral college map

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a ...

    I'm sure there's a relationship there somewhere. Discuss if you will.
    • johnchaney3, on 05/11/2008, -0/+3I'm sure that a similar graph showing middle class leaving economically blighted areas would be similar....Los Angeles is a ***** hole because of illegal immigration and the economy, or lack of that it has created...I should start taking pictures of some of these inner cities...People in America are in denial. The recession has been growing steadily for a while.
  • mrzack, on 05/11/2008, -9/+9It's all that ***** Right Wing trickle down ***** theory. Goddamn corporate whores.
    • SRSco, on 05/11/2008, -2/+6Actually its the complete opposite. The subprime market was created and championed by LIBERALS who decided it was a RIGHT for every American to own a home, even if you can't afford it based on regular credit standards.
      • mrzack, on 05/11/2008, -5/+2ARE YOU KIDDING ME you ***** RETARD. It was a LACK of regulations. The lack of regulations was a Right Wing Corporate free market Whore's wet dream. The "Liberals" were yelling for regulations. Dumb ASS.
      • airykmn, on 05/12/2008, -2/+1mrzack, you are correct... corporate free market = lack of regulations = rape and pillage for your MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!!!

        Fiscal responsibility my ass.
  • davidjunit, on 05/11/2008, -9/+2VERY red. Clinton '08
  • senorsubagua, on 05/11/2008, -3/+11Bush has been claiming that home ownership has never been so high for years -- an obvious lie now apparent to all. Mortgage ownership has been at an all time high, but not home ownership. So rare for such statistical manipulation to be revealed so dramatically, but it's actually a great thing for folks who actually can and want to buy a home. Frankly, I have despised the elevation of home "values" in the last few years as it has exacerbated the despicable practice of neighborhood associations that force standards of behavior on supposedly free americans -- for example, I was restoring a 65 mustang in my driveway -- neighbors and strangers would drop by, ask questions, follow the progress, help out -- the result was that the folks on my street to some degree got to know each other a little better, thus improving the feeling of "community" -- until some jackass maven from the neighborhood association (which encompassed an area of some 20 x 20 blocks) drove by and initiated legal proceedings and ultimately forced me to remove it -- apparently could not differentiate between an American classic being actively restored and, I guess, a rusting piece of crap sitting up on blocks (which I recognize IS an eyesore). The neighborhood I'm in now doesn't allow boats on the property; personally, i love the sight of numerous boats dotting a neighborhood. The point is that there are those who feel they have a right to arbitrarily decide what their neighbors can and cannot do on their property, all in the name of preserving their own home values, which we now see are entirely artificial.
    • CarbonAndroid, on 05/11/2008, -0/+6I would never buy property associated with neighborhood associations for the very reasons you stated.
      • senorsubagua, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2i agree, but my point was that the elevated home values have made such properties/neighborhoods few and far between if you live in any kind of suburban environment. And such associations can be implemented long after you have purchased your property regardless of your wishes. It's inherently unamerican.
      • airykmn, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1I would. Associations keep the trash out!! Mine doesn't... meth house down the street, 5 houses without yards installed.... and this is a development that is only 4 years old. ( I was the first to move in ) Foolish me. I'd love an association to clean up this complete mess of a neighborhood. And now I can't move without taking a loss on my house. (MN here) Never buy property without associations? The grass is always greener my friends. ;)
      • senorsubagua, on 05/15/2008, -0/+0You don't need a neighborhood association to shut down a meth house.
    • Nation, on 05/11/2008, -1/+1blaming Bush in this post is dumb ... there have been just as many democrats as republicans who have been pushing "More home ownership" for a very long time. Clinton did it, Bush Sr did ... people in the House & Senate.

      If you dropped your partisan crap at the beginning, and just smashed the stupid politicians in generally your post would be
      - more true
      - better
      • senorsubagua, on 05/11/2008, -1/+1There's a big difference between pushing for more home ownership and claiming to have fostered policies that have accomplished more home ownership -- we now know this statistic was based on predatory lending practices. Bush's administration could have reigned in these practices; they chose not to and fearless leader took credit for the high levels of "home ownership." Google Bush and "home ownership has never been so high" and you will see that he did in fact make the claim.
  • NelsonR, on 05/11/2008, -2/+5Overall the housing evaluations will depress as in Japan where it took 10 years to finally reverse. The odd thing is why most could not see it coming years ago. Who was going to afford to purchase these inflated cost? Easy question. 40 to 50 percent drop is what will be.
  • Rotzooi, on 05/11/2008, -3/+2My Manhattan closet-sized apartment did very nicely. Couple of 100K profit in just 5 years.
  • madk, on 05/11/2008, -1/+4The housing market has been inflated for far too many years. This is just a natural readjustment that is long overdue.
  • HubbertWins, on 05/11/2008, -0/+5Falling house prices is only a bad thing if you are selling. If you are buying it is wonderful and if you are going to stay in the house for 5-50 years, does anyone really think the prices aren't going to rebound just like they always have?
  • crapmatic, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2I like how that map has several categories for rising prices, yet it doesn't differentiate between any falling prices (in fact it just lumps it in with no change). It's the cartographic equivalent of an ostrich with its head in the sand.
  • siktath, on 05/11/2008, -1/+2Hilarious! Permits are almost so low that the builders have practically shut down, yet this is supposed to last forever?
    I love you people. You make my life so easy.
    • StillAnonymous, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1Nobody said it's supposed to last forever. Where'd you get this notion from?

      Besides, there's still another shoe to drop. Over the next 20 years or so, all the baby boomers are going to be retiring. Many will be selling their houses, many will die off. As the boomers didn't have as many children as their parents did, there aren't enough people to take up the slack. This increases the number of houses on the market as well, independent of what builders do.
  • oldgal, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2It is nice to see an article that lays out how the numbers are derived. I would love to see how they arrive at the inflation index, and compare it to how they arrived at it say, 40 years ago. Not that I think the numbers might be cooked or anything....
  • BetterOffEd, on 05/11/2008, -2/+2*****
  • GamerSDG, on 05/11/2008, -6/+2Cant wait for president Obama to take over.
  • snoogit, on 05/11/2008, -1/+5Imagine that, the states with the most over inflated and ridiculous real estate markets are now being corrected.
  • mouseyear, on 05/11/2008, -4/+4The bubble will be over when Americans learn to live in a smaller house, drive a smaller car and keep a smaller credit card balance.
    • freddc, on 05/11/2008, -1/+3The second one is not going to happen anytime soon in those "declining" areas.
  • bloodmoney, on 05/11/2008, -1/+4Don't care what the map says. I don't think the housing bust even exists here in Houston. It's probably because we are so entrenched in the energy business.
    • noevadeaux, on 05/11/2008, -0/+1Add any place in the Barnett Shale area, bloodmoney.........but it's gonna suck big time when they hit oil on our place, and then the water table gets fouled. I guess we'll have enough dough to just move on, but that will totally suck. Maybe we'll be able to buy our own franchise in a bottled water company, and stay here.
    • StillAnonymous, on 05/11/2008, -0/+2Houston actually has fair prices on housing. Compare what you get for $150k in Houston to the rest of the country. For ***** and giggles, compare it to Calgary, AB, Canada. There's another area that's heavily entrenched in the energy business, and it's bubble city ($400k for half the house you get in Houston).
  • mcla0181, on 05/11/2008, -2/+1source?
  • cenobyte40k, on 05/11/2008, -2/+6Bascily all the idiots in Cali and the NE that think they are better than everyone, and know better than everyone ran the house prices up though the roof because the more you pay the kewler you are. Well those are not the real values of these house and they couldn't aford them if they where. Now the price is correcting and the those that couldn't aford them are loosing them. I feel bad for there families but the buyer needs to be aware of the contract they are signing, the market they are in and how much money they can realy aford. Wake up people, I am not about to loose my home and I don't make that much money.
  • known, on 05/11/2008, -4/+31. Stop all imports (for e.g. Chinese Products,Indian Services, Arab Oil) to America.
    2. Spend all your cash
    3. Impose fine on people refusing to spend their cash...
  • noevadeaux, on 05/11/2008, -0/+3Seems like these days, all the house flippers on those TV channels are either giving up the ghost or living in the renovated houses they bought. Gawd help you if you didn't put in "granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances".
  • christopherRB, on 05/11/2008, -1/+1There is no need for convincing. Most if not all the people I know, know.
  • Gemfinder, on 05/11/2008, -0/+4California real estate is abominably overpriced anyway. A regular 3-bed-2-bath house or a high-end condo runs about $1 million, for no better reason than California is regarded as a great place to live. An apartment's monthly rent there is a house payment, principle and interest, everywhere else.
    1 house in California = 3-5 houses in 90% of the rest of the country. It's a blessing that their real estate prices are dropping.
    • dimitrisokolov, on 05/12/2008, -0/+2It's for the California lifestyle = long commutes to work, ugly beaches with freezing water & seaweed that you don't even want to swim in, real estate prices through the roof, and did I mention the traffic? California is a disaster. I lived there for 3 years in the OC (Irvine). Two people making 80-100k each cannot even afford a house there. It's apartment living for life.
      • Gemfinder, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1I'm reminded of the Irish blessing, "Land without rent to ye!"
        I grew up in Santa Cruz and lived most of my life in the Bay Area, twelve years in Sunnyvale. I watched the cherry, peach and almond orchards get condos and strip malls plunked down on top of them until the San Francisco Bay was ringed in a nearly-unbroken carapace of graffiti-riddled steel, glass, tarmac and concrete, ten miles deep. Santa Cruz fought tooth and nail to keep their Green Belt and it worked, by the gods. I finally moved out of my 2-bedroom in Pacifica when the rent shot up 25% in the wake of the Dot-Com boom — and I found that that $2,010/month was one of the lowest in the entire region; I saw a junior efficiency hole in the wall near Stanford for $1800. I had to look down in San Luis Obispo to find something for three decimal places.
        Hopefully California's apartment-dwellers will take up their pitchforks and torches — Feinstein won't let 'em have anything else — and descend on the opulent mansions of the landlords soon.
  • Fukamerica, on 05/12/2008, -1/+1God will destroy america!!
  • dimitrisokolov, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1According to the map, most of the country has housing prices that are still climbing. So, how is it a map of misery?
  • partrow, on 05/12/2008, -0/+2Why do Liberals spend so much time on misery and gloom and doom? They just love it, for some reason. Keep wallowing in your misery, Libs.
    • rebelcapitalist, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Are you calling The Economist a liberal publication? If you are then get your fact straight - typical Repuglican response.
  • yenta4shop, on 09/05/2008, -0/+0http://www.yenta4shop.co.uk/
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  •  

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