I think there will be no turn around as far as prices go. The prices were all over inflated and this is a reset, which was needed. Home prices grew to fast too quick. I think things may get worse, not sure if US can compete with foreign countries anymore. It is sad but true.

  

Agreed,

Having been in the construction, real estate and mortgage industry for last two cycles, this last one was unique, it lasted almost twice as long as the usual cycle of ups and downs of ten years. Anyone with any knowledge of these cycles had to be aware we were in for a huge crash, and WOW, are we seeing it now.

Simply put, given this last up cycle was seven plus years longer than normal past cycles, it only goes to reason the collapse would be far more severe than in the past, and it is. Right now we are back to 2004 price level in our area, which is typical, so anyone who purchased a house in or around 2004 has not made a dime in appreciation, so for those who bought after 2004, sorry, but you are probably in a reverse equity position.

Sadly, most people who are now facing forclosure are those who purchased in past seven years or so which is exactly how many years this last up cycle was past normal ten year cycles we in the industry are all familiar with. Foreclosures are out of control given this extended cycle was fueled by bank fraud and subprime mess created by Greenspan with his easy money policy and recommedation to take all these interest only junk mortgage deals. We are all going to be paying for gov. screw up forever with our children's children paying for bank bailouts we are now seeing caused by the greed of these banks pushing liar loans.

All I can say is I have never seen a worse situation for home owners than in this last cycle which is seeing a drop in real estate values like never before. Foreclosures on these reverse equity homes, along with rising unemployment will impact almost everyone's equity who purchased a house in last ten years, so brace yourselves, that wonderful feeling of having your home double in value in last five years has just vanished, and the worse is yet to come as gov. throws trillions down the toilet trying to salvage these toxic banks who contributed to this total meltdown of economy.

As some mentioned, there is always opportunity in down markets, and when it does finally bottom, I wonder how many will be in position to take advantage of rebounding markets? This time around I doubt there will be many given the widespread collapse of economy including stock market implosion, and now worldwide collapse in economy. UK is about to announce they are bankrupt, China is talking about pulling out funds from dollar which could send the dollar down the toilet as well. We are all in unchartered territory economically speaking, but again, there are always opportunities regardless if you are smart, as well as careful.

I have refocused on helping people avoid foreclosures with sellers assistance funding so people can get out from under a reverse equity situation and not totally destroy their credit rating with a foreclosure which would preclude ever getting another mortgage again given the fact that most with 720 plus FICO scores and 20% down can not even get a conventional mortgage at this time, so look for opportunities to grow in the short sale market as banks are desperate to clear their books of toxic mortgages. Another opportunity is helping those who have already runied their credit with foreclosure or bankruptcies with a new equity building profit share program where you can get into a new home without a conventional mortgage. This is a hot new home alternative which will be only option for many to get into a new home.

Success to all,

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BEST FREE RECESSION PROOF MONEY SAVING ONLINE HOME BASED BUSINESSES

so unpredictable

Interesting,

Having been in the industry for years, and knowing the usual historical 10 year cycles in real estate, anyone with half a brain new we were all in unchartered territory with bubble extending 7 years beyond normal. The last 7 years were driven by fraudulent activities of greedy banks who were inducing mortgage approvals for anyone regardless whether they could afford house or not. Mortgages approvals and interest only variable rate 125% mortgages were bound to kill the markets, and it did, although it took longer than I had expected.

What a mess, and the worse part is yet to come, so there will be opportunities, just as helping those avoid foreclosures is now the hot business to be in. In a few years, there will be buying opportunities and the new cycle will begin, and up cycle, so hang in there.

Success to all,

__________________
BEST FREE RECESSION PROOF MONEY SAVING ONLINE HOME BASED BUSINESSES

I live in Chicago and it took me 3 months to sell our condo. Lost money on it for the past 4 years but we are upgrading moving in to a way bigger townhome and are getting a sweet deal on it. Whether the market is up or down you either win by saving money or win by making money.

Good point,

No doubt, each sitiation is unique, so in some cases if you sell and lose money, and if you are purchasing another home, you are not really losing for you will save on the new purchase.

The worse the recession gets, the higher the foreclosure rates will be, so looking at the current market, if you are renting, wait to purchase another year for the prices will fall even further in most areas, contrary to the BS we heard last week from Bernanke that we hit the bottom. Remember, he only admitted we were in a recession a year after it started. lol

Success to all,

__________________
BEST FREE RECESSION PROOF MONEY SAVING ONLINE HOME BASED BUSINESSES

FreedomForex is right - lenders have all but closed shop after the ludicrous excesses of the sub-prime bubble, and despite the 'quantitative easing' by the Fed to push more liquidy into the market.

Translation? The fed and other central banks have basically made more money available to the banking system so they can lend without affecting their own weak positions. But most of this money has been used to strengthen that weak position rather than actually lend on to other banks and ultimately consumers.

This is partly because bad debt continues to rise as others have pointed out here and while the worst of the downturn appears to be over, redundancies and foreclosures tend to peak well after the upturn begins.

If you have some money available but not enough to actually buy a property, the other way is through a property fund. While the market may not have dropped out completely yet, any serious investment should be long term anyway. If the markets had taken this approach before we may not be in the mess we are now. But history will always repeat itself on that score.

Part of the problem, but possibly part of the solution too is the range of financial instruments used to 'repackage' mortgage debt into investable securities. So instead of investing directly in a property or even a property fund, you can buy these securities, which at the moment are on the floor. Lenders used these instruments to move the debt off their books and recapitalise through their sale.

If you are having a hard time understanding all this, don't feel bad - even the bankers themselves and the regulators did not understand them or the risks they therefore were exposed to which is what caused the credit crunch.

However, new schemes put in place by various governments, are helping in specific ways to allow new money to flow into this sector under strict conditions, and thus should appeal to people with more risk averse profiles.

I was going to go into more detail here but this is already long and getting too technical for this kind of forum! When I get to 20 posts (nearly there!) I'll be able to post links to articles I am working on to try and explain this to people as I think it's important that more of us understand more about this area so we can help prevent future financial meltdowns.

Good post,

No doubt about it, the recession is not over, and no matter how the gov. leaders like to paint a positive picture, foreclosures are on the rise as unemployment is hitting even those with good credit and 30 year fix rate mortgages, so it is no longer the subprime mess leading the foreclosure epidemic, it is hitting the whole housing industry, and with all the tax payer money bailing out banks, makes you wonder if the money would not have been better spent if loaned directly to home owners in trouble.

I have seen more people facing foreclosure than you can imagine, and I don't see this problem ending anytime soon, no matter what Obama would like us all to think. Banks are not lending, and when they are, it is not even close to how they had operated before when greed was their only motivation, these banks like CIT should never have been bailed out. After throwing billions at problem, the truth is, the banks are still insolvent, so what does gov. do, throw more money at problem, money they don't have as technically speaking, gov. is insolvent too. Only advantage is, they can just print more useless dollars trying to fool public into thinking things are getting better.

Sad situation, and now it is starting to hit the commercial real estate markets, so if the gov. wants to paint a pretty picture that things are getting better, as usual, they are not being honest with citizens. Unemployment is still on rise, and sadly, this fuels the foreclosure problem, so where will it end, nobody knows, but it is not even close to being over, so if I wouldn't be looking at this as the bottom, I feel we have another year before we can determine the bottom of this disaster of an economy.

Success to all, Mike

__________________
BEST FREE RECESSION PROOF MONEY SAVING ONLINE HOME BASED BUSINESSES

I agree it's far from over, but it's understandable politicians wanting to paint a positive picture. I don't think it's always disingenuous either - after all, a major part of economic development is sentiment. If the sentiment is more positive, more deals are done (fact) and this helps pick up the economic pace. I don't believe wallowing in self-pity will do this.

That's not to ignore the facts. We have to be honest. But the truth is there are now more positive figures coming out. Yes, we must help those most in need, but usually the only practical way to do this is by stimulating the economy as a whole.

I think its amazing. 5 years ago being a real estate agent could make you rich in the matter of a year and now the bottom has seemed to fall out of the housing market over night. Thank God I never took classes and spent money on getting my license for becoming an agent. I feel so bad for all the people and families the gov has ruined because of their greed and heartlessness.