[quote=lifeisgood]I look at articles on this site just about everyday. My wife and I will be closing on our new home in late February. We are super stoked being that it is our first house and all. We bought the plan three in Chanteclair which we will be trying to fill up with kids eventually. My wife wanted me to ask some of you experts in real estate about the possibility of our new house loosing a great deal of value or will it just stay stagnant for a while? From what I read on this site, it seems like some areas have lost so much value that they are close if not at the bottom. Do you all think that 4S is close to bottom or is there a lot of room to fall. We don’t mind too much as we will be staying in this house for at least 15+ years. We also understand that this is a risk. We just couldn’t pass up the deal we got on the house plus the interest rate that we locked. Thanks for your opinions in advance! [/quote]

Congratulations on your new home! I believe that as long as you don’t see your home as an investment for the short-term (i.e. time frame <10 years) you should be fine. The values will likely drop further, but it's almost impossible to buy at the bottom. You bought your house as a home for you and your family. I have been to 4S ranch many times and think that it is a nice area to raise a family. Once the housing market recovers (and it will!) the value of your home will go up. Nobody knows when the housing market will bottom but it looks like it will take another year or 2 before this happens here in SD.