Quote from nitro:
I reread my original post and I left untied ends. My point about OJ and how it ties to rent is that people will pay for something not so much based on value, but on psychology. I know it is obvious, but it amazes me how it plays out on a daily basis!
Listen to Secretary of Treasure T Geithner, and countless others, continually espouse that without the housing market, the economy can't really ever pick up again. I throw my hands up in desperation at the lack of critical thinking of these people! Further, it suggests where the biggest abuses are pretreated on a people.
Who are you selling these homes to? The cost of building a house has skyrocketed to the point where only people with decent wages can afford them. The real unemployment rate is 17%, and newborns in this country has decreased drastically. Coupled with a shit education system that teaches how to be a dullard to go work for a corporation, oh yeah, they'll be lining up to buy houses in record numbers. With states hungry for your money, buying a house is a trap. Your real estate taxes could triple, making your home no longer affordable. If this happens to you in one of the US cyclical downturns, and yep, welcome to foreclosure.
The "American Dream" is not bad in itself. But the real American Dream should be steady employment with decent jobs. Everything else falls into place if you put your dreams in the right order.