Ten years ago, we reached the low point of the sub-prime housing bubble. The decline started in 2007 and reached a bottom in 2012. It took over 5 years for home prices to stabilize. This time instead of a sub-prime mortage crisis, inflation and low interest rates are driving home prices. Home inventory remains low, and people are trying to lock in low mortage rates before rates increase. When interest rates reach a certain level home prices will start to decline. Once this process starts it will take several years before home prices reach a low point again.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is down 20% and the Dow Jones is down 9% year to date. My investments are down about 8% this year. Real estate has been one of the few safer investments, but that will be ending soon. Gas prices remain elevated driving the price of everything higher. We waited two years for the pandemic to subside, now we can't afford to buy food or travel. I would include the war in Ukraine as a factor in our economic troubles, but Google has basically censored discussion on that topic. This is the message they have on their AdSense dashboard: "Due to the war in Ukraine, we will pause monetization of content that exploits, dismisses, or condones the war." I don't think anyone wants to risk losing monetization from Google, yet I see a lot of Ukraine videos on YouTube, which is owned by Google.
The Doomsday Clock, a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, moved forward to 100 seconds before midnight in 2020. The clock's setting was left unchanged in both 2021 and 2022. The clock is assessed once each year in January by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, February 24, 2022. If assessed today, the clock would surely be set to 80 seconds or less. You would think that mankind would act more civilized toward each other in 2022, but things just keep getting worse for the human race.
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