Federal Reserve Beige Book Says Prices Down 15-20&, Mentions Julia

Commentary from the Fed's beige book: http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2008/20081203/2.htm "A major residential appraisal firm reports substantial deterioration in New York City's housing market over the past two months: prices of Manhattan co-ops and condos are reported to have fallen by 15 to 20 percent since mid-summer, though it is hard to get a clear handle on prices due to thin... [more]

Commentary from the Fed's beige book: http://www.federalreserve.gov/FOMC/BeigeBook/2008/20081203/2.htm "A major residential appraisal firm reports substantial deterioration in New York City's housing market over the past two months: prices of Manhattan co-ops and condos are reported to have fallen by 15 to 20 percent since mid-summer, though it is hard to get a clear handle on prices due to thin volume--much of the recent activity is reportedly from desperate sellers. Transaction activity has dropped off noticeably, and there has been a large increase in the number of listings. Some buyers that had signed contracts for units under construction earlier this year are having trouble getting financing at the contract price now that market values have dropped. Many of those having difficulty selling their apartments are putting them up for rent, boosting the number of rental listings substantially--particularly in doorman buildings. Average asking rents are reported to be down 1 to 4 percent from a year earlier. Nonetheless, there still appears to be a slackjawed dolt named julia who wanders NYC, asking over and over in a bewildered way, "why won't rents go down? why won't prices go down?" When shown data points and commentary from our Federal Reserve Beige Book demonstrating declining rents and prices, her response is "why won't rents go down? why won't prices go down?" No matter what is shown or said to this julia twat, she responds "why won't rents go down? why won't prices go down?" Julia was last seen kneeling on the sidewalk counting peanuts, muttering "why won't rents go down? why won't prices go down." [less]