what exactly is consumer uncertainty? i come across it in various articles but never understood what that meant…
Without knowing context, I would assume that it meant consumers’ long-term view of their financial positions. If buying a house, a car, or just a tv you have to consider what will happen in the immediate/medium/long-term future. If you are uncertain about that future you will curb your spending habits appropriately. For example, if I thought my ARM were going to reset, go for a huge increase which may reduce my monthly discretionary income by $300 and in addition heating costs this winter were going to increase significantly, I wouldn’t go buy a brand new car. Uncertainty kills spending.
so i guess it is largely attributed to the subprime fallout…
I heard that many people who were laid off in the last recession survives by taking reverse mortgage. I suppose they will soon in deep sh!t if the trend lingers for several years.
bmwhype Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > so i guess it is largely attributed to the > subprime fallout… Personally the subprime fallout is only a portion of a much larger problem. Even if subprime counted for 20% of all loans, that also means that the prices of the remaining 80% were dependant on the 20% price support. Add to that the economic variability of that area, such as CFC laying off 12,000 plus tens of thousands of RE people that don’t even show up on the govt. benefits radar due to comission compensation, and thousands more from other lenders (Greenpoint with their 2,000…etc), you get a much larger trend. Add to that oil, energy costs in general, inflation, even milk prices that have gone up 40% in 6 months. It’s all playing into consumer unease.
Yeah many full time realtors will also be in big trouble