As I mentioned previously, the statistical peak in housing (measured by new-home sales) was October 2005, only nine months ago (and with a unit drop in new-home sales since the peak of less than 20%). By contrast, the average postwar cyclical downturn for housing has been between 26 to 52 months, and in units, has averaged a 51% drop.
Quote from Guildenstern:
Condo's went up 22% in July in King County (Seattle)! Single family house sales are still red hot. The avg house in Seattle was $470k last I checked and a condo is approaching $300k.
Quote from crackedback:
I'd still rather pay 15% on a 200K home than 5% on a 400-500K overpriced pig. At worst I still only have a max of 200K in debt, instead of 400+.
How do you think a 20-40% correction would affect an owners feeling of "wealth" if they own the 400-500K pig?
I've been through three of these cycles and EVERYONE that says it will drop a max of 20% better go look at some old data. My home went from 125K to 220K to 140K to 475K in the span from 1986-2004. Home dropped 40% in the last cycle down. This run up has been even more extreme than prior periods. Food for thought .
Something I think will happen is rents will not rise in my area as more underwater owners place their units available for occupancy, hoping market value increases. My 2 cents