Mark Zandi Quotes

The most critical factor subduing the demand for housing is that home ownership is no longer seen as the great, long-term buildup in equity value it once was.

A stockbroker urged me to buy a stock that would triple its value every year. I told him, 'At my age, I don't even buy green bananas.'

A reverse mortgage is available to anyone who is at least 62 years old and owns a home outright, or has a small mortgage balance remaining.

Because the fees associated with a reverse mortgage are high, such loans make sense only for borrowers who expect to live in their home for a number of years.

For my children, it makes sense to talk about modernizing Social Security, letting them create stronger personal accounts, letting them get a higher rate of return over the long run.

Buying a home wouldn't make much sense if house prices were likely to decline further; no one wants to catch a falling knife.

For my constituents, owning a home is the culmination of many years of hard work and the realization of the American Dream. At no time should a local entity take those years of hard work solely to increase their tax revenue.

Some financial advisers say anyone who may move in less than seven years should not take out a reverse mortgage.

Preserving the 30-year prepayable fixed-rate mortgage - it's like the bedrock of the housing system - is critical.

The secret I've lived by ever since I started earning money is this: Always buy a house with an extra bedroom adjoining the master. And that's always my closet.

While a reverse mortgage can indeed be a viable way to generate income, it is very important to understand that after you take out a reverse mortgage, you will still be responsible for paying the property tax, the insurance premium, and all the maintenance costs for your home.

Home ownership is the cornerstone of the American dream.

There is a reason so many Americans choose to develop their net worth through homeownership: It is a proven wealth builder and savings compeller.

I never buy a house thinking that I'm going to sell it.

It's impossible to know precisely what constitutes the right house price but I do know that house prices doubling or even tripling over a 10 year period caused a lot of people to find that getting a foot on the housing ladder is near on impossible.

If you want to retire young and retire rich, it is very important that your money be like a bird dog, going out every day and bringing home more and more assets.

With housing it's something even more dramatic than that, because most people aspire to own their own home.If you really think that houses prices are going to go up next year and the year after, you feel if I don't buy it this year, I'm going to have to buy it next year.That's not true of an Internet stock. But it's true of a home.

As an occupation in declining years, I declare I think saving is useful, amusing and not unbecoming. It must be a perpetual amusement. It is a game that can be played by day, by night, at home and abroad, and at which you must win in the long run. . . . What an interest it imparts to life!.

In order to ensure long-term investment, it is important to make infrastructure as transparent and as bankable as possible - should be a win-win for all.

I even don't dare to watch our stock price, because this is what other people think who you are. I dare not watch it. I think, let the market take care of themselves; we should take care of the business.

Shopping for an annuity with hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake can be daunting, even for an economist.

Housing wealth - the net equity held by households, consisting of the value of their homes minus their mortgage debt - is the most important source of wealth for all but those at the very top.

Your mortgage shouldn't have been treated as a wager - it should be a way to provide a home and financial stability for you and your family.

I have been making films for 25 years now and I am not mad to invest in something from where recovery becomes an issue.

People feel a great deal of their wealth or lack thereof in their home value. Despite the fact they're living there and not going to sell it per se, it does have a big psychological effect.