As for the analyst on CNBC all I can say is WTF? So now having a rational argument backed by data is an indication you are wrong? WTF? If I pull numbers out my butt is it an indication I’m correct? That really is the dumbest theory I’ve ever heard.
As for me (not saying you were referring to me) I do not have a dog in this fight. I don’t need another house and I don’t have an underwater mortgage and I am not looking for a good reason to walk away from an underwater house. I do not NEED prices to drop.
I do not start at “I’m a bear on housing” and then work to support it. The numbers all support a disaster happening right now, yet market manipulation has convinced some to argue that things are improving and that’s the reason for the bidding wars and not the historic level of manipulation.
Those who bought recently have a dog in this fight and so do realtors. Realtors don’t make money when buyers are sitting on their thumbs waiting for the next leg down. So for them regardless what they say, they need people thinking the worst is behind us.
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BTW Anyone else put off by the boasting of a realtor claiming he’s making a killing selling homes the banks took away from the families who believed realtors and bought at wildly inflated prices during the bubble? If I were a realtor I’d keep my mouth shut and be thankful every day I was not banished to a leper colony for being part of the industry that has caused so much pain for families and the country.
I am not saying all realtors are bad but still best to not rub our faces in it when you really should expect to be looked upon with the same suspicion as an Enron Officer.
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Scaredycat:
I would start by waiting for a time frame when depression era levels of foreclosures and unemployment are not looming over the market WITH enormous levels of manipulation and fraud. Then maybe look at consumer debt ratios and historic RE prices. Put these together and you have a good starting point for identifying a “good time to buy”.