Homes Still Not an Investment; Housing Slump to Continue

Feb. 8, 2011 - PRLog -- To contact the author: johnwasik@gmail.com or 847-223-9814
To obtain a media review copy, contact Laura Walsh, lwalsh@wiley.com

Homes Still Not an Investment; Housing Slump to Continue

Chicago - The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream (Bloomberg Press, 2009), predicted the continued malaise in key housing markets around the country three years ago.
   
Now in an updated paperback edition (Wiley, Feb. 2011), the book revisits those prescient forecasts and continues to foresee bad news for the nation's worst-hit markets.

"As home prices continue to fall, it will be a long time before housing recovers in the burst-bubble markets," said John F. Wasik, the book's author and a columnist for Reuters. "Some areas in central/southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and the Midwest will be damaged for a generation. A lot of ghost towns are emerging. Millions of Americans are stuck and the middle class is imperiled."

The book explores the origins of the housing crisis and examines the future of all major regions. The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome also examines how changes in tax and bankruptcy laws can spur a housing recovery, including radical proposals to kill the mortgage tax credit and reduce the reliance of schools upon local property values.

"Homes are not investments," Wasik continues. "They depreciate. While land can increase in value due to increasing scarcity, most people shouldn't look at a house as if it were a stock or bond. It may never pay you back. The housing crisis has given us a rare opportunity to re-evaluate the American Dream. Ultimately, though, the American home and community will have to be re-invented."

Houses will also need to be ultra-energy efficient to reduce long-term ownership costs, a theme explored in depth in The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome. This can be done with factory-built, green homes. They also need to be more affordable. "Green homes can be the savior of the global homebuilding industry if they can lower costs through mass modular production. This is one light at the end of the tunnel."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR (available for interviews and speaking)
John F. Wasik has written 13 books and won 18 journalism awards. He contributes to Reuters.com, The New York Times, AARP and Morningstar.com and has appeared on such national media as NBC, NPR, and PBS. For more on the author, see www.johnwasik.com. Available now on www.amazon.com or www.bn.com.

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About JK Enterprises

We are a media company that explores the truth about economics, personal finance and real estate. We've published 13 books and offer speaking and writing services on a wide variety of topics. Our president, John Wasik, has appeared on NBC, NPR, PBS, CNN, FOX, Bloomberg TV/Radio and has been interviewed on radio from Australia to Boston. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Reuters.com, Fortune.com, Morningstar.com, AARP Bulletin, Kiplinger's, Huffington Post, Bloomberg.com, and Barron's. He has spoken from coast to coast on various financial and social topics. He is available for media interviews and speaking engagements.