“Why ANYONE who can read and has an I.Q. over 80 would buy a home for investment or as a principal residence before late 2009 (at the earliest) simply escapes my comprehension.”

Ditto, but people are slow to learn. Thus the down slope accelerates. People buy, thinking that prices couldn’t possibly go down further, then they complain bitterly to everyone they meet when they find out they were wrong. The malaise spreads until the last bull is silenced. That is the bottom.