Is the federal government playing puppetmaster with your house price? Are they in cahoots with house value sites?

| Feb 15, 2008 | 0 comments


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In my monthly net worth update post earlier this week I consider the fact that the federal government may be trying to coax the recession away by bumping up your house price. It would give everyone a happy feeling, possibly woo’ing them out of saving and into spending. What do you think of conspiracy theories?

I think that it would make sense. My house hasn’t been so high since pre-recession talk. And we’re not getting any better. Yes, the stimulus package is officially on its way, but do you really think that is a sign of the recession going away? Absolutely not! If the recession weren’t looming, Congress would NOT have passed the deal.  They’d have enough sign that things were going good and keep the money for themselves.  Nobody likes to give away money, including the government.

But really think about it – People use the online house values websites to find out how much their house is worth.  I do it as a homeowner, and I’m sure potential house buyers do it as customers.  I did when I was searching.  What would you do if you saw a house going up in value in a neighborhood you wanted to move to?  You’d probably consider moving in before it got too high.  Yes, I am sure you know that a recession is coming; but if you were doing well at your job, you’d possibly think it might be worth a look as it must be a hot location.

Or another angle, how about if you saw your house increasing in value over 5 or 6 months.  You’d know that it had risen above what you paid for it and it would make you consider the fact that maybe the recession talk is non-sense.  Granted, you’re reading  a blog that hinges on being financially smart, but think of the 99.99999% of the world that DON’T read personal finance blogs.  A lot of people are just lemmings and go with what they see.

Yes, it is a small chance, but I think a possible one.  If people see their house prices dropping like a rock; they’re going to clam up and stop spending on other things also.  They can see it coming; most people aren’t that dumb.  This includes the government.  They know that we’re a nation of buyers; without those buyers out on the street, we’re a nation of savers, and a nation of savers doesn’t keep money coming in and/or going out.  Raising that house price might be just an ever-so-small way of them trying to push us in the direction of spending…

What do you think?  Am I way off base here?

Filed Under: Compensation • financial education • Frugal • House • Interviews • Investing • Portfolio • Readers Requests • Real Estate • Taxes

  • http://achingdebts.com Cindy S

    If your home value is actually going up, you are one of the few very lucky ones. With short sales and foreclosures, most home values are dropping like the proverbial rock. I know several lenders and one of the biggest problems right now is that appraisals are coming in low on both purchases and refinances. In a lot of cases for less than they owe on them.

  • http://myinvestingblog.com hank

    Hey Cindy – I hear you. Everything IS dropping like a rock and my house WAS dropping for months, but for whatever reason bumped up 25k on all the “home value” sites out there this month; hence this “conspiracy theory” post.

    I also know a lot of folks that are upside down on their mortgage (house is worth less than what they owe), but starting this month I wonder just IF it could be possible they’d try this out to spark some more interest in buying, not just in the US, but worldwide…

    Thanks for the note!

  • http://www.HouseFront.com House Value

    ALl online sites that provide estimations are just that, estimations. YOu have to talk to a real estate agent if you want a real value for your house. I dont care if my house value is giong through the roof, or falling like a rock until I talk to a professional. Allllthough those sites are fun to look at :)

  • Pingback: Hanks Weekly Hangouts #17 (February 16, 2008) - My Investing Blog

  • http://www.biblemoneymatters.com Pete @ biblemoneymatters

    We bought our house in 2006 right before the bubble burst. Since then our house has dropped in value. We’ve lost about 25,000 in equity. This past week I checked the value on some of the home sites, and our value had dropped ever further on some of them in the past few weeks. I tend to take those home value sites with a grain of salt though, they never seem to be quite right in our area. For example, several of our neighbors houses are EXACTLY the same, and their valuation on one of the home sites was 80,000 more. For no discernable reason. Go figure.