The US housing market is already starting to clear – that’s efficiency

This NYT article describes a Minneapolis auction of properties that have been foreclosed:  300 properties in 2 days, winning bids as low as half market value of 6 months ago.  More than half the properties were previously owned by speculators who had never moved in.

The story illustrates how quickly an efficient market can move and is a key strength of the US system.  When the financial crisis hit Asia back in 1996 it took years for deals to be struck in the Thai market and delayed injections of capital that would have accelerated the rejuvenation of the economy.  That isn’t happening in America.

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