Real Estate - your thoughts and opinions?

[mchastek]

Not a day goes by that I don't read about or hear about the real estate market. I thought I'd start a topic and see what some of your thoughts are. I personally live in Southern California and am astounded by the prices we're seeing here. I visited Austin, TX recently and while rents were very similar to Southern CA, housing prices seemed to be about 1/3 as much.

Where do you think we're headed? A soft landing? A crash? Single-digit appreciation?

[Topshop]

Logic says crash...but then again the whole economy should have folded a while back and it's still afloat. If the debt faucet flow is ever slowed....

[mchastek]

My personal opinion is that it will come down pretty significantly in the areas that have seen 300% apreciation in the last few years. Interest rates going up, a lot of people haven't felt the sting of their ARM yet, and Real Estate moves pretty slowly anyway.

I know around my area, I'm seeing A LOT more Open House signs than I ever did before. I think people are realizing the good times have come to a halt and they better sell while they can. It's only a domino effect from here on out.

I'd love to hear other opinions as well.

[FRCreditRepair]

Hi,

I hope the Real Estate market will get better soon, but I am really not to sure of that. The only good thing about a crisis like this is that, if you are smart, new opportunities will arise.

Marc Williams:)

[Usedcars]

How many percent is the market down?

[mchastek]

Real Estate is very local, so I'm not sure what market you're refering to. If you're talking nationally, I don't know off the top of my head but it should be easily found on Google. I know my local market is down, but I couldn't tell you how much. I still think it has a long way to go.