Once more my usual disclaimer… wait if you can before you buy, specially if you are getting a condo.
I will answer 4 and 5 for ya…Homebuilders price aggressively for many reasons. First and foremost, they have plenty of margin, and they are not emotionally attached to the product they sell. As the market continues to depreciate the homebuilders continue to price aggressively and contrary to what many people think, they are selling homes. They also keep sales robust by paring down the numbers of homes release per phase.
So in general your observation is correct, used homes are not only as expensive but more often then not more expensive then comparable new homes.
I am one of the many posters who feel that there is still room for prolonged depreciation. My view is that it will vary somewhat with the type of home, (condo verses single family) as well as the neighborhood. I am not saying some places will rise and some will fall. I think all will fall at different rates and they will find different levels. I believe we will see a more gradual drop over the next few years, that will be intertwined with seasonal behavior that is predictable. To clarify, I expect to see small pops in the spring, then pretty flat the remainder of the year with the declines in the summer and late summer.
