20 Million Empty Houses In The US

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The number of empty houses in the US is currently estimated at 20 million and growing. To that number you can add another 4 million foreclosures by the end of 2009.

10 million Americans are currently unemployed and that number is growing substantially and is expected to peak at around 15% by years end.

Seemingly totally removed from reality are the financial guru’s and pundits who proclaim that “the worst is over” and the economy is improving. If so, where are the new jobs for the 10 million unemployed Americans? Where are the new industries to employ these people?

Some forecasts indicate that it will take 20 years for the world economy to rebound to anything like it was prior to 2006. The damage is so severe that some economists claim the economy may never fully recover but instead simply accommodate current economic conditions, or find its own plateau.

Real estate agents are promoting the purchase of homes as a “great investment” at current price levels but since there are so many houses and so few buyers it’s not likely that home prices will increase in any measurable percentage over the next few years. In fact, it’s more likely that prices will continue to fall over the next 24 months. Waiting to make that purchase may be the “greatest investment” one can make in real estate today.

Manufacturers and retailers of consumer goods are the first to admit that they are suffering badly and don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. There is no indication that things are improving, in fact the economy is deteriorating rapidly with retails sales declining as much as 50% in a month-to-month basis.

Discount stores are also suffering. Low prices are certainly no guarantee of retail sales these days. It doesn’t matter what they charge for goods if you don’t have the money to spend. The American consumer is rapidly becoming removed from the repetitive cycle of consumerism and is now forced to wait on the sidelines, denying themselves even the smallest of purchases either out of necessity or out of caution.
　
　
　
　
　

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