The numbers I used may seem arbitrary but I can promise I didn’t pull them out of thin air. I saw lots of examples of pricing compression while it was occurring, and we did actual market analyses covering the easier zip areas to confirm. The bottom end held better than the middle and upper ends. The upper end held a little better than the middle, which took it the worst.
And if you think about it this would make some sense. The bottom end holds a bit better because those buyers are coming from both directions – buyers entering the market and buyers moving down after struggling with the move ups. The upper end holds a little better because rich people are not as affected by employment trends. The middle gets nailed because those buyers include the merchant class and the middle manager types that are always very susceptible to employment trends. That’s also why the middle markets exploded in number during this run-up.
