Boomer and others who are interested in this:
Check out the following link. An article in Business Week published "way" back in the good old day of January of THIS year. It now appears that the author had it right. It is interesting to note on page 3
"Douglas Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Assn., predicts existing home prices will slip less than 2% this year before beginning to rebound in 2009." Unfortunately, Mr. Duncan has been proved quite wrong because the drop in 2008 is very much higher than a measly 2% as he predicted.
Also, on page 4, the article notes a 30-year Fixed Mortgage was
5.5%. Since that time (only 7 months) the average now for the same mortgage is over
6.5% with some charging 6.75%.
It is a long read but explains the situation and problems such as people now being upside-down on their home loans. Sellers will have to accept that their homes are not worth the same as they were a couple of years ago. Those who price their homes to market conditions and expectations are selling and avoiding even lower prices in the near future. Tough read but worth reading.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...0040767516.htm