nc4, don’t take this as one of the “sharp” comments but you’ve been a posting member of this site for 12 hours. Perhaps you lurked and read before posting but like any blog, this isn’t a press conference, you don’t need to respond to certain comments, free speach is very alive here.
I’ll ask you only a few questions and you don’t need to post the answers, just say them out loud to yourself. Is the house you want to buy the same price it was in 2001? Is it 40-50% less than peak? If the answer is no to both, that knife is too sharp to catch it yet. The observations made by others are accurate, if you can’t get a loan, very few others can either, therefore downward pressure will lower than price within the next year, it will meet demand (or ability), it is an economic fundamental. Prices rise when anyone and everyone can buy, prices fall when few can buy, these are basic market laws.
I personally don’t like 800k on 250k yr, 750k is 3x income, that’s the number I like to stay under and that is without any monthly loss if you keep the condo. You don’t even need to look for a 600k house, that 800k house will be 600k before you know it. Even the most staunch cheerleaders on the boards will tell you that the 800k hoods are some of the few that the most downside risk, the fact that loans cannot be obtained only serves to support that argument.
