I don’t think that prices have dropped significantly enough to my satisfaction. Clearly there have been some decreased prices. However, at this point it seems random. As an example there is one neighborhood that I’ve been watching. There is a house (~3600sf) that has been on and off the market since October. It started off at 995,000; the current asking price is 840,000. Unfortunately I don’t care for that particular house. One street over another house just came on the market. It’s a good sized house (3700sf) with a fairly large yard (important to me) and ocean view (way off in the distance). There are absolutely no upgrades in the house (linoleum floor, ugly carpet, no granite). Asking price 1.1 to 1.3 million. You are absolutely right that I can offer whatever price I want. However, I am doubtful that the owners would be willing to accept (at least at this point) the 850,000-900,000 that I’m willing to pay. My feeling is that perhaps by next wintertime prices will have universally dropped and sellers expectations will have adjusted accordingly to make it worth it for me.
