20100830 The Real World of Real Estate (1)

The Real World of Real Estate

Understanding the cost and value of home

SC: Why are houses such an important part of the economy?

MZ: Houses play an important role in the economy because average consumers store most of their net worth in real estate. They are also important because people don't just invest in houses; they also live in them.

SC: What pushes housing prices higher?

MZ: House prices are typically driven by a number of factors including inventory levels, interest rates, employment rates and income levels. Sometimes, governments initiate programs to keep home prices at a certain level.

SC: What is a housing inventory? What affects it?

MZ: The term housing inventory refers to the number of houses that are being sold on the open market. Housing inventory typically includes newly built homes, older properties being sold by their owners and properties that lenders obtain through foreclosure. When there is a high demand for houses, inventory is low because people are buying houses as soon as they are put up for sale. When demand is low, inventory is high because houses aren't selling and are staying on the market longer.

inventory n. 存貨/存貨清單

inventory level 庫存水平

eg: The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars.

=> 這家汽車經銷商擁有數量龐大的二手車。

eg: Our boss told us to take a comprehensive inventory of our goods.

=>老闆告訴我們要對商品的存貨做全面的清點。

eg: The company had a sale and sold most of their inventory.

=> 這家公司舉行大拍賣，把大部分的存貨都賣掉了。

open market 公開市場/自由市場

on the open market 在公開市場

eg: We intended to sell our house to our friends or family, but now we've had to put it on the open market.

=> 我們原本想把房子賣給朋友或家人，但是現在我們必須公開出售了。

foreclosure n. 法拍

=> a bank or a lender take that properties back

eg: Wesley hasn't paid his loan for months, and is now facing foreclosure.

=> Wesley已經幾個月沒繳房貸，現在面臨法拍的命運。

eg: The foreclosure procedure will take 2 months.

=> 法拍的程序是要發上2個月。

hedge fund 對沖基金

net worth 淨值

//== Chat room ==//

hunt 打獵/尋找/物色

如果你想要買房子你就是在house-hunting

br

=> bedroom

ba

=> bathroom

bathroom分成full bath和half bath

full bath 整套的衛浴設備

half bath 半套的衛浴設備(只有馬桶和面盆，沒有洗澡或是淋浴的地方)

= powder room

= guest bathroom 客人專用的浴室