It will be interesting to see what inventory really looks like. I beleive this change is actually rather bullish for the market and not something that bears should be excited about. If inventory dropped from 13K to 7K like I think it will we will be at levels not unlike those we saw at the peak demand time. Media spin will go in high gear.
The real benefit is that when you look for homes, you will actually be able to see what is really available. It will make for a less frustrating but more difficult buying process as demand will get focussed on what is truly available rather than having me receiving 5 to 10 calls a day on properties that I already have a couple dozen offers on. I wonder how these contingent homes will be treated by all the Internet sites. Will the homes with offers submitted but not yet approved be on Realtor.com? It will be interesting to see how it is handled.