As a Realtor & real estate investor since 1964 - I have seen many trends come an go......Real Estate has always been the 'best long term investment & probably always will be.

It is however always LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION that makes the difference. You have to be smart about it! There are areas that will really be hurt - my hometown already has been there & I did NOT make a profit on my home of 5 years that I sold this year, That is a first...... I did lucky to break even. However, at the same time, I made a profit on my home in Cape Coral of $120,000 that I barely owned for 2 years.

These price increases are insane & I think they will start to level off - but it will be due to 2 things..... Property Tax increases & Interest rates making housing less affordable. Also an important factor is lending policies. I cannot believe that there is still 100% financing available....duh..

From the opening lines of the article --
"Investors sold off stocks in early trading and continued selling after the National Association of Realtors said sales of previously owned homes dropped 2.6 percent in July as mortgage rates crept up. But even with the decline, sales were the third-highest level on record.

The latest snapshot of housing activity suggested that the sizzling housing market may be cooling slightly."

Sales were still 3rd highest ever. There will be no bubble burst, the housing market will simply come to down to reality. You also can't compare it to the tech bubble. At the end of the day, the houses still have a nice underlying value. Tech stocks in the bubble there did not have a real underlying value since many of those companies were losing money from the start. The market will cool off, but all that will happen is growth rates will come down to reality.

[QUOTE=Sharpie}
It is however always LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION that makes the difference. [/QUOTE]

So very true. Even in huge declines, like in the 80s when Hawaii was hit by the loss of the Japanese buying and suffered 20% declines, the best properties came through relatively unscathed. In most cases when property declines, the premium, most in demand locations seem to remain stable in price.

Interest rates keep going up :Oh crap

NY up 30% in ONE year. Homes in upstate NY rising faster than a boner in a Brazilian whore house.

Average home is 5 times the median income. It's becoming too expensive for the majority of Americans to own American homes. Who wants to bet during the next terrorist shit in Europe alot of European wealthy start snagging up homes in the U.S. ....Oh, maybe I should say look out here come the Chinese aristocracy.

china is gonn a be like japan was in the 80's only 1000 times more powerful

I'm closing on a 2 bedroom Condo with a garage in Coral Springs for 279k, great location. My parents bought a 4 bedroom single family house with a pool in Coral Springs back in 87 for 120k. That house is now over 500k, with the biggest jumps in the past 3 years.

Unreal.

Normally I would agree with you Lars, but I know China.

What's going to happen to China in the near future is gonna shock everyone for millenia to come.

50 Bubbles

50....,....

damn i was too early. I set you up woj