The big difference with the RE markets vs. the stock markets is that it’s possible to know exactly what you’re buying and what it’s worth in relation to the various alternatives. For a home buyer, those alternatives are not just limited to other homes for purchase, they also include rental housing and housing located in other areas.
TGs hundred thousand armchair quarterbacks is a great way to look at it. Sure, some of them are trend-following lemmings and have little depth in the subject themselves, but a lot of them follow because the message resonates with them.
These losses were completely foreseeable and avoidable, that fact being vividly demonstrated by the people who did see it coming and who did get out of the way. Some of the losers this time will choose not to repeat their mistake, and after a brief search they will find the sources of information they need to get ahead of the curve instead of behind it.
The way I see it, there are more people during this cycle who were well informed in advance and well prepared for the outcome than there were in the previous cycle. I fully anticipate that group will grow in volume during the next cycle. The only question will be whether or not they’ll be outnumbered by the additional speculators who will jump onboard next time after having missed out this time.
But make no mistake, the next time the market enters into an upcycle the REIC will rewind their jukebox to belt out all those golden oldies about how there’s a huge shortage of land, everyone wants to live in SD, the weather is great, jobs are great, RE never goes down, and this time it’s different. You’ll be able to set your watch by that.