If we get institutional investors buying SFH, this would change the decline significantly. Is this realistic? They look for billions to invest, do you think they would buy up a bank’s REO division and deal in individual properties?

If we didn’t have negative savings rate, highest level of personal debt, stagnant wages, and exotic loans, I would vote for a 15% drop. But all the factors I mention, esp. the exotic loans resetting and resulting foreclosures, are making me the ueber-bear.

Another concern: from where come the high wage jobs to save the economy? There is no new buzzword on the horizon. It used to be high tech, then biotech. Lately, the headlines are ominously silent…..