In the comments posted after the article, one individual hit the nail on the head:
Just because it’s called a McMansion doesn’t mean somebody with a McJob can afford it.
You can’t expect RE to revive by changing the interest rate, changing the financing options, hiring a staging company, or adding granite countertops, or even adding $20,000 worth of ‘incentives’. People can’t afford to pay 50%, 60%, 70% of their take home pay for housing. With so many jobs being outsourced, and so many of the jobs being created in the low paid sectors such as hospitality and retail, people are struggling to compete for the few decent paying jobs available. The winners of that competition may be able to pay at these prices, but the number of homes for sale is much higher than the number of high paid job slots available. Inventory will continue to remain high until the average Joe with the average job can afford to buy a house with a sustainable mortgage payment. Why don’t these realtors pray for a real quick dramatic price drop, for a quicker crash? Then sales will pick up.
