Thanks LS… I guess time will tell whether we are right or wrong! I have a friend in the Agoura/Calabasas/across the canyon from Malibu area who has had his house on the market for a long, long time (6-8 months?). He has it priced at 2004-5 prices and has only dropped it in price by 50K. He has a reverse amort. loan, but really wants to get 200-300K out of the house.
He has had one serious offer but they dropped out. I don’t see him selling his house. If he had dropped it 100K after a few weeks (or 150K), he might have sold 6 months ago and still pocketed 200K and have not paid 6 month of interest / taxes / real estate showings!
Unlike him, I took the opinion that I would rather sell at 2004 prices and get out than the 2005 price which was the top of the market. I have put my money where my mouth is (by selling in Dec 2006). It was an easier decision for me than most because the move made our commute easier. And I’m on the sidelines in the stock market also (mostly).
I agree with you. I think that the bubble has been letting air out (it can’t burst because people can’t sell their houses like stocks and they also need somewhere to live), but the air will be deflating very, very fast this summer. I think that late summer 07 will very, very bad and the holidays will be far worse (a dead time anyway)….
I would rather pay top dollar for an awesome rental, than double that on a mortgage right now!
