Wines and the Foreclosure Crisis (No, They Do Not Have Anything in Common)

For Wine Enthusiasts

I received a press release last week that may be of interest to those of you who are into wines. Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. will be auctioning off over 1,700 lots on September 19 and 20. Their top 10 lots include: 1990 Romanée-Conti, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti; 1982 Château Pétrus; and 1990 La Tâche, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The auction will be at the company’s Chicago auction house, but you can also place your bid and follow the auction via phone, fax, or the Internet at www.hdhlive.com. Read the press release for more information.

Got an Economics Question?

Economics is on everyone’s minds these days, from the upcoming election to the increasing price of gas to bank failures to the falling value of the dollar. So you must have a few economics-related questions that you want answers to. Well, we have the best source for you: our resident economist Stephan Zimmermann. Stephan is a former department chair for economics and taught at various colleges and universities at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Send your questions to Stephan by reading his post “Got an Economics Question?” and submit your questions in the comments section there.

Poll Results

Amateur Economists‘ first poll results are in. The question, “How much has your home’s value decreased in the last 12 months?” ran from July 7 – July 16 and received 163 responses. Here is a breakdown of the results in descending order:

• None of the above. My home’s value has actually increased. – 30% (49 votes)
• 0%-10% – 23% (39 votes)
• I don’t know. – 20% (34 votes)
• 10%-20% – 15% (25 votes)
• 25% or more – 7% (12 votes)
• 20%-25% – 5% (8 votes)

First, the disclaimer: this isn’t a scientific poll. It was displayed on the homepage, and voting was open to all visitors during the above dates, although respondents could only vote once. (Check out the current poll on the homepage.)

I recommend reading Cheryl Grey’s article “Seeking a Shallow Bottom: The U.S. Economy Going into the Second Half of 2008″ to help put the results in perspective. For example, major losses in house values only affect California and Nevada, according to a government news release. Also, some regions may be experiencing house devaluations as a direct result of more people moving out of those regions than moving in.

So how accurately do the government’s findings reflect your situation? Live outside of California and Nevada and your house’s devaluation is in the double-digits? Or is the declining housing market limited only to a few states and not as widespread as many believe?

Final disclaimer: your responses here may lead to more scientific results than the poll.