[quote=sdrealtor]FWIW, there were no lines in 1999/2000 around here. I bought in 1999 and when the super prime lots were released they went the 1st day to people who were waiting. The other houses in phases took several weeks to sell. In the phase release I bought in, there were 11 homes of which 3 sold immediately. We bought the 4th best one available in that phase 2 weeks after it was released. we also had about a dozen unsold homes to choose from that were in previous releases that were still available and offering incentives.[/quote]
Some friends of ours who own in your development had to camp out at midnight to get their house. They have a view lot and a single-story house, so not sure if that made a difference, but there were many people fighting for the same lot/house.
Further up the coast, people were also camping out at new releases in O’side when they started building all those 3K-4K sf boxes up there. We’ve been actively watching the RE market here and in LA for many, many years. For those who were watching things closely, you could literally see things begin to take off in late 1997/early 1998. Flipping really got its roots at that point, and the speculative fever began. By 2001, prices in many areas had already doubled (or more), and people were very actively looking to “get into the game.”
I used to think that the cap gains exclusion on home sales wasn’t a major cause of the bubble, and still think it couldn’t have gotten very far without the credit bubble, but when one sees how much the RE industry has taken over our economy, I must admit that it’s a compelling argument to get rid of the exclusion.
