bottom no sooner than 2011/2012 – more likely 2014/2015 and then scrape along the bottom for several more years
asset classes that experience bubbles and then burst are typically dead for at least a generation
we can’t all buy at the bottom so you knife-catchers do your job for the next two years or so[/quote]
Well said. There seems to be a sense the housing market is somehow seperate from the rest of the world. Rising foreclosures, Alt-A reset/recasts, unemployment (~500K/mo.) and rising interest rates are not items that would put upward pressure on prices.
Sure, the current prices look like bargains compared to 2006 but, the external factors that droves the prices that high are now gone for the most part.
We did have artificially low interest rates for a few month that are now starting to actually factor in risk. We also currently have the gov’t giving away tax dollars to just about anyone that is willing to take on a mortgage. Hmmm, I wonder why sales seems to be up?
Time will tell the tale. The most important thing to remember here is life is short. Enjoy every last minute of it. If you feel it’s prudent for you to buy, then buy.
I’ll be waiting and saving, simply because I can’t afford a “modest” home in a decent area on my terms. My terms being a mortgage that I deem resasonable, that wil allow me to save and while still participating in the world.
If I never become a home “owner” so be it. There is still much of the world that I haven’t seen and many more things that I’d like to do.
