“The fact is there are a lot of people who bought homes near the top of the last cycle who weren’t just out to make a quick buck, who didn’t refinance multiple times to go on nice vacations and drive a fancy car — they just wanted to own a home”
You’re right, they weren’t out to make a quick buck–they were, however, buying houses THEY COULDN’T REALLY AFFORD if fundamentals are observed. Our “crowing” or grunting, or whatever sound vultures make, relates to the fact that we who are financially responsible MAY actually be able to afford homes we have SAVED for. Good GOD! Saving? What is this “saving” of which thou speaks?
Unfortunately, and this is really unfortunate, a great deal of people need to suffer in order for prices to come back to earth. This includes the idyllic people you speak of who just thought they were being priced out, as well as the irresponsible scumbags who WERE out to make a quick buck. Some nice but ignornant people will be harmed by this correction, but that doesn’t make the correction any less necessary.
As far as how low we can go, nobody really knows. We all have our guesses, but I can tell you that if I can find a home I really like in the $600-850K range that I plan to stay in for the rest of my life, I would buy no matter what the market is doing. Unfortunately what I really like is $950-1500K right now. Are these reductions possible? I don’t know, but I plan to circle above until I see them. If I don’t, we’re perfectly happy to continue renting. The view while circling above is really nice.
And for those folks who think we shouldn’t feed the trolls, posts like these are really important. When I was lurking on this board it was the reactions to trolls that taught me the most about this market, and I have to admit, I still get a huge kick out of responding to a troll.
