In the bubble run-up the banks were kind enough with easy credit to anyone. Now we have a large number of people– who are qualified by today’s stricter loan and financial standards– being kind to banks in return: these people are willing to go into decades of debt in order to purchase an immediately depreciating asset. Many have decried the bail-outs of banks; yet while the fed battles on the front line these people attack from the rear, armed with checkbooks! I hope it works out well for them and they don’t in turn need bail-outs. I also hope it works out well for the banks. The thing that scares me is, regardless of how qualified you are financially, when your asset is worth X and you owe XY (where Y > 1) as Y increases there will come a point when any sane person would walk away, perhaps to buy a bigger, cheaper house next door. Even today’s strict loan guidelines cannot prevent that.
Owners: maybe this is our last-chance rally! Should we sell? Hmmmmm…
