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You're not wrong, people are just objecting to your bombast. Also note, 2008 was unusually dramatic; one of the big projects in downtown sunnyvale went bankru
by lsc 9y ago
You're not wrong, people are just objecting to your bombast.
Also note, 2008 was unusually dramatic; one of the big projects in downtown sunnyvale went bankrupt and changed hands several times before completion. Yes, declining home prices do sometimes leave long term holes in the ground, but mostly only when prices decline a lot more quickly than expected, as they did in 2008.
I was here in 2001, too, though (or a little up the peninsula) and there was a bigger drop in rent (though not sale prices) then than in 2008. In 2001, sure, you saw 'for rent' signs, but as far as I remember, the 'holes in the ground' as you put it, of buildings who's builders had gone bankrupt partway through were rare.
- timr 9y agoNah, people are objecting because they don't want to hear facts that contradict their preferred narrative. They want to believe that construction instantly lowers prices, and any information that contradicts this narrative is voted into the dirt on HN. I grant you that 2008 was exceptional, as recessions go...but it's not rare to see projects abandoned. I saw it in Seattle in 2001 as well. It just depends on the state of the projects when the recession hits -- you might not get "holes in the ground" unless the decline hits quite suddenly (as in 2008), but you definitely see projects abandoned. That's universal.