my understanding is that the economics of housing are a bit different than other assets. as it is difficult for a lot of people to sell houses at a loss en masse, people end up getting "stucK' in the house until the normal increase in housing prices catches up to the overpriced amount that they paid.

the has some good articles on this topic.

i imagine only a handful of places are going to experience big drops -- New York and Boston come to mind. Larger cities like Philly, Chicago, D.C., San Francisco, and LA are also likely to be hit. That being siad, I doubt most of these cities will see sudden drops of more than 20%.

Bill... Do you seriously think that the housing market here will decrease THAT much ...? I don't know dick about markets and stuff, but the problem is that if I sell right now, I'd have to move out of Florida.... Or, move back in with my parents ... For that, I may not mind taking the 90k hit...

What do you think the timeline is on these prices dropping..? And, is it just a temporary drop, or are they going down and STAYING down...?

...perhaps i overstate a bit, but not by a whole lot, not in the really hot markets...S. Cal, Fla., Phx, Vegas, New England, a few other places... from history, bubbles DO really fall hard...
I think it's already quietly started....the rush will be into AU.
And i believe it will last a long, long time...20 years easy.

Time will tell on all of this.

Here in Phx/Scottsdale a really nice upscale 1 BR apt goes for $700 a month...how much there?

Not sure for rent, as I (happily) havent rented in a couple years... But, like I said, my place has more than doubled in a year... My buddy just bought a 3/2 OKAY lookin house that he's basically had to completely renovate for like $335,000 (which is freakin RIDICULOUS)... My parents bought their house about 10 years ago (I know it's a long time) for about $130k... Now it's worth over $700k

I'm MORE than ready to get the hell out of here.... But, I'm not sure if I have enough money to go anywhere else unfortunately...

WOW, 130 to 700! Tell THEM to sell, move to Ky, buy 100 acres, creek, trees and a 3/2 for $120k and live like king and queens.

You must make some great bucks at your regular job, else i'd be outta there Jack. Course family is important too...and gf's...you HAD might want to check apt rent tho...50 years from now, you'll be telling your grandkids, 'yessir, back in nought five, i stuck 90k in my pocket and never looked back...now i'm a multi millionaire...'