hyegirl

There is nothing morally right about talking about marriage after a short time of knowing someone... This is perhaps why there are so many divorced young people in the Armenian community. As for me when a guy starts talking about marriage shortly after meeting... that's usually a sign of wanting to get into marriage for the wrong reasons... and it's an indication for me to run the other way

Where in LA does one go to meet quality Armenian MEN ?? Quality for me is defined by having good morals, strong values and not being superficial....

Is it just my experience or do you also find that Armenian guys past their late 20's seem confused about wanting to get married and settled down. It does not appear to be a priority for them. I'd like to hear your opinions.....thanx

Where does one go (in So. Cal.) to meet quality Armenian men to date ???

Armat, your dream may be coming true soooooon The Housing Bubble in New England By Dean Baker[1] January 5, 2004 In the last eight and a half years, the country has experienced an unprecedented run-up in home prices. Over this time, the rise in home sale prices has been more than 40 percentage points higher than the overall rate of inflation. Typically home prices have risen approximately in step with the overall rate of inflation. Neither the great boom of the sixties, nor the demographic surge created by the baby boomers forming their own households in the seventies and eighties, led to any substantial increase in home prices, adjusting for overall inflation. The New England region has been at the center of this run-up in home prices, experiencing an increase in home sale prices that exceeded the overall rate of inflation by more than 70 percentage points over this period. The run-up in home prices in New England over this period was more rapid than in any other region of the nation. The table below shows the increase in home prices (adjusted for the overall rate of inflation) in the United States as a whole, the New England region, the Pacific Coast region (which had the second largest run-up in prices), and each of the six New England States. Table 1 Inflation Adjusted Increase in Home Prices 1995-2003 United States 34.7% New England 59.6% Pacific States 49.4% Connecticut 36.4% Maine 44.9% Massachusetts 73.5% New Hampshire 67.8% Rhode Island 53.3% Vermont 26.1% Source: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and Bureau of Labor Statistics.[2] While the most obvious explanation for this increase in home prices is that it is due to a real estate bubble that paralleled the stock bubble – as happened in Japan -- some analysts have attributed this run-up in home prices to fundamental factors affecting the supply and demand for housing. This list of factors includes: 1) an increasing population due to immigration, 2) limited supplies of urban land, 3) environmental restrictions on building, 4) growing incomes of homebuyers. The problem with these explanations is that none of them are new to this period – if these factors explain the current run-up in home prices, then they should have also led to rising real home prices in prior decades, when many of the factors (e.g. rising incomes) would have played a larger role in pushing up home prices. At a more basic level, if these fundamentals were to explain a run-up in home prices, then they should also be driving up rental prices. If higher home prices are due to an insufficient supply of housing, then the effects in the sale and rental market should be comparable. While rents did originally outpace overall inflation in the period from 1995-2002, they did not rise anywhere near as much as home prices, increasing approximately 10 percentage points more than the overall rate of inflation. More recently, rental inflation has slowed. In the last year and a half rents nationwide have risen slightly less than the overall rate of inflation. In some bubble markets, such as San Francisco and Seattle, rents are actually falling. This pattern is completely inconsistent with a run-up in home prices that is driven by fundamental factors, rather than by a speculative bubble. If the run-up in home prices in New England and elsewhere is attributable to a speculative bubble, then it will inevitably burst. Like the stock market crash, a collapse of the housing bubble is likely to be a serious blow to the economy. It will virtually ensure a second dip to the recession. It is also likely to be devastating to the personal finances of millions of families, whose home is their largest financial asset. Unfortunately, few families realize that much of the wealth in their homes could disappear in a collapse of the housing bubble. As was the case with the stock bubble, the vast majority of economic analysts have failed to recognize the housing bubble. Families have been encouraged to treat housing as a secure investment that can only appreciate in value. This view from experts has led homeowners to borrow in record amounts – the ratio of equity to value is at a post-war low among homeowners, in spite of the record appreciation in home prices.[3] If home prices move back toward their pre-bubble levels, many families will find that their mortgages equal or exceed the market value of their home, leaving them with no equity. For aging baby boomers who are nearing retirement, many of whom have recently lost much of their savings in the stock market crash, such a blow may destroy any hopes of a financially secure retirement. While some of the increase in home prices is likely to be real – just as some “new economy” stocks have survived the crash, it is likely that the regions experiencing the largest run-up in home prices will see the largest fall during the crash. For this reason the New England region is especially vulnerable to a downturn in the housing market. Table 2 shows the real increase in home sale prices over the last five years in the major metropolitan areas in the New England region. The last row shows the real increase in rent in the Boston metropolitan area, the only metropolitan area in the region for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a rent index. As can be seen, the real increase in home prices vastly exceeds the increase in rents in Boston in every city on the list. As is the case nationally, the rate of increase in rental prices has slowed dramatically in the Boston area. Over the last year, rent in the Boston area has increased by 3.6 percent, compared to increases of more than 7 percent in the prior two years. This pattern of slowing rental inflation is consistent with the run-up in home prices being explained by a speculative bubble instead of underlying factors in the regional housing market. Table 2 Inflation Adjusted Increase in Home Prices 1998-2003 Barnstable-Yarmouth, MA 79.2% Boston, MA-NH 55.0% Bridgeport, CT 40.9% Brockton, MA 63.3% Burlington, VT 26.3% Danbury 34.3% Fitchburg-Leominster, MA 55.3% Hartford, CT 25.1% Lawrence, MA-NH 53.4% Lowell, MA-NH 54.2% Manchester, NH 54.9% Nashua, NH 61.8% New Haven-Meriden, CT 33.3% New London-Norwich, CT-RI 36.4% Portland, ME 41.1% Portsmouth-Rochester, NH-ME 50.2% Providence-Fall River Warwick, RI-MA 52.0% Stamford-Norwalk 42.8% Waterbury, CT 24.5% Worcester, MA-CT 51.1% Boston – Rent Index 12.0% Source: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and Bureau of Labor Statistics.[4] The public should be calling on presidential candidates to address the issue of the housing bubble. The failure to recognize the stock market bubble was the major cause of the current recession and the resulting job losses. While it may be too late to prevent a sharp decline in house prices, the next president should be prepared to offer a program of economic stimulus to counter-act the recessionary effects of the bursting of the housing bubble. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.cepr.net/New_England_Housing_Bubble.htm

Hold on to your cash. If you buy now you are throwing your money away. There aren't many people left in this job market who can afford the houses at this incredibly hyped up prices. It's not the problem of supply. The problem is demand. Lamborghini (sp?) is a great car...few in the market...super expensive...but how many people are able to buy it? But it's a car that deserves the price tag. Now think how many would buy an Accord if it were sold at Lamborghini price. Why would you make a foolish investment like that? Supply and demand only applies only if the demand can be backed up by the ability to pay. The only thing that is supporting the latter is low interest rate. And now the Feds are in deeeeep "sh*t" with all the mortgage debts that they themselves have basically co-signed. There's no way the Feds can raise interest rates without bursting the biggest housing bubble in the century. Keep your money for two more years. There will be abundance of houses from people selling their "worth less than half of what they paid for" houses in panic once the news hits that it's becoming harder to sell houses. One thing is for sure.....people panic....and SELL SELL SELL.

A real estate bubble is very possible. I will give you a scenario that will probably happen in overly inflated markets before anywhere else. Interest rates rise and only a select few can qualify for the $500 - $700K home prices, which is the average price of a home in my neighborhood. It's called supply and demand - simple economics. Hold on to your money for about 2 to 3 years. The bubble will burst, but probably only in overly inflated markets.

What it all boils down to is the fact that a good majority of Armenian marriages are based on convenience and it is evidently very convenient for guys from the U.S. to bring a wife from Armenia It makes it impossible for those of us looking for a real realtionship to find an Armenian guy looking for the same.

How has the housing bubble affected your plans to buy or sell a home ?

Economic desperation is a strong motivator, even for educated Armenian women from Armenia, to marry Armenian guys from the U.S. with whom there is not much real compatibility. So it is not a matter of being smart and/or educated but rather a matter of survival.

Maybe, that's true and I am just geographically misplaced Any suggestions as to where I should move to find me a MAN.

I am wondering if there are any "REAL MAN" among Armenians ?? Though, you'd probably agree, there are plenty of wusses. And be it whether they are in their late twenties, thirties or fourties act like overgrown teenagers. I am totally disappointed at the quality of Armenian single men.

It's just too easy for Armenian guys from the U.S. to go to Armenia and get a wifey. I know of a guy who went to Armenia, got married (only knowing her a few weeks) and brought his wife back to the U.S. After living with him for a couple of months, she left him. It was obvious that all she wanted was a free airplane ride to the U.S. As for the guy, he went back to Armenia and got married (again) to another girl (only knowing her for a short time). Their status.... they are still together. Why are Armenian relationships so shallow

Wow.. there seem to be a lot of singles out there. It's ironic thought, where are these people when there are singles events ? I was not brave enought to post my profile, yet. However, I am curious how effective this site is in bringing singles together. Any success stories out there.....

I suppose it's all about wanting desperately to move to the United States.

Just recently, a friend of a friend - a middle aged (47 yrs. old), bald, overweight guy went to Armenia and married a 22 year old, tall skinny girl from Yerevan. Now, don't tell me this is LOVE I guess I should mention that the guy is a doctor. Can you imagine ?

Not finding "the ONE" I want to share my life and dreams with

I suppose that LOVE is the last thing being considered in these kind of arrangements. It's all a big game and each party is playing by the rules.

You may find this of interest... Armenian Couples Get Engaged Using Centuries-Old Tradition

Thanks Davo. Glad to hear that that was a joke.

What do you mean by axchik paxcnen ?

A good relationship takes time to bond properly. It is work and takes time to mature relationships into marriage. Oh.. and speaking of traditions... it it true that in Armenia, the girls parents will not allow their daughter to go out with a guy without the guy going to the parents and perfoming the "Khosk Khap" ritual. So, essentially, the guy and the girl are forced to promise to marry each other before they have any sort of a relationship. Go figure.

.... marriage of convenience This is so sad. Marriage is suppose to be so much more than convenience. No wonder you see a lot of Armenian couples who have been married for years and years, have kids and yet seem so disconnected with each other. How can this type of a marriage be fullfilling ? Seems to me that guys who marry in this manner are pathetic losers who don't know the meaning of LOVE... it is lust and not love.

Hello Everyone, I am new on this forum and am interested in hearing what you guys have to say regarding the topic below. How can Armenian guys living in the U.S. go for a visit to Armenia and while there, get married all in a matter of less than a couple of weeks ? How can this relationship be real and meaningful in such a short time as to lead to marriage ? Is it just convenience for the guy and economic desperation for the girl that constitutes their decision to marry ? How can it be more that just that in such a short time. This has been baffling me. I'd love to hear what you guys have to say regarding this trend.