It's not over!

[TheRainman]

Why home prices could drop 25% more on average before the market finally hits bottom
As Washington policymakers struggle to keep the U.S. out of recession, the swirling confusion over the housing market is making their job a lot tougher. Will American consumers keep shopping or be forced to pull back? Will banks lend freely or be hamstrung by mortgage defaults? What are the best policy options right now? Those and other important questions simply can't be answered without a good idea of whether home prices will rise, flatten out, or keep dropping.
Some experts have begun to suggest that a bottom is in sight. Pali Research analyst Stephen East wrote in a research note to his firm's clients on Jan. 25 that "the sun is not shining very brightly, but at least the worst of the storm has likely passed." With optimism budding, Standard & Poor's beaten-down index of homebuilder stocks soared 49% from Jan. 15 through Jan. 29


http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/104340/Housing-Meltdown;_ylt=AncykPUuFNexm5Tofu_2Zr5O7sMF

[Andy]

I'm actually rather glad that bubble is popping. Should coincide nicely with my idea of bulldozing some dive and building a spiffy new house on the lot. Definately good when RE prices get to more normal levels when you are planning to buy something.

[KVP612]

I'm actually rather glad that bubble is popping. Should coincide nicely with my idea of bulldozing some dive and building a spiffy new house on the lot. Definately good when RE prices get to more normal levels when you are planning to buy something.

Amen to that

[Foolish Old]

Talk about a bubble; RE prices increased here by 30% for five consecutive years. How could they not go down? I received multiple offers ten times the purchase price of my lot before the ink dried on my deed. At the same time, trailer parks and modest houses were snapped up for the building rights and replaced with $1.000,000+ McMansions. The affordable housing crisis is so bad that a two income household of working class people (example, a teacher married to a cop) has little shot at ever owning a home. Despite numerous task forces and a commitment by local government, very few affordable units have come on line.

We now import day laborers and service workers from the mainland. Imagine working an eight hour shift plus a bus ride two hours in each direction. I have to laugh when I hear people say that the poor are poor because they are lazy.

I didn't sell or become a flipper during the boom, even though I had the knowledge and the means to make large dollars. I shed no tears for speculators who made bad bets. Perhaps the bottom will be at a level allowing some working families here to realize the American Dream. I would welcome that, even though it would raise hell with my personal balance sheet. Seems like having a stable community is a more valuable asset.

[Mike C]

Europeans with ching are having a field day buying up cheap property. Dollar-Euro...wow.

[Eileen]

I sold my home two years ago, just at the start of the slide. I should have sold it sooner, as it was too much for me to manage, but I held onto it until the writing was on the wall that I either needed to move or I would spend all my income getting other people to take care of it. I am SO grateful I got out when I did, as the prices have fallen so badly I could not have started over.

[doingtimeonmyass]

Now that the feds are cutting interest rates again is anyone thinking about refinancing?

[TheRainman]

Now that the feds are cutting interest rates against is anyone thinking about refinancing?

It's a great time to refinance if you can quilify. The problem is most people don't quilify do to no equity or credit.