The American Dream Ends: Why This Housing Bust Is Worst Ever

Housing Bust

The current housing downturn isn't over and is "much much worse" than past downturns, says Barbara Corcoran, who built The Corcoran Group into a multi-billion firm during the real estate busts of the mid-1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. This downturn is "grossly different" than those past cycles because homeowners are much more willing to "walk away" from homes, says Corcoran, who sold her namesake firm in 2001 for a reported $66 million and is now an author and widely cited real estate guru.

I realize that this is only adding to the gloomy economic forecasts, but the housing market is a strong indicator of the current economy.

This month housing sales went down 4.7% and have seen record declines in the past few months. People are timid to buy or sell because the market is in such big trouble.

Anyone selling or buying a house right now, and if so, can you add any insight into this?






[edit on 9-7-2008 by TruthWithin]

I just bought a house last month. Now is the best time to buy. I still have a house in Tampabay I couldn't sell so I rented it out. Now I have a second home outside Nashville, TN.

The reasons to buy a home haven't changed, regardless of what the 4th branch of government (MSM) says. When my wife and I bought our new place our rent went down! We paid $1070 for rent of a 2 bed 2 bath 0 garage. Our mortgage, insurance and taxes on a 3 bed 2 bath 2 car garage with an inground swimming pool adds up to $998.

Even if the market crumbles further - we are still in a better postion to succeed in our long term financial goals...

I can't wait until this starts happening in Australia. Everybody here (homeowners in particular) believe it couldn't happen in Australia - real estate has rarely declined here.

The fact is, we've been through and are still in a massive bubble that has seen prices rise by 3-400% in the last decade. Normal people now can't afford homes, and we have a generation of baby boomers leeching expensive rents from younger people and driving up prices with their retirement money keeping younger Australians out of the market.

A crash can't happen soon enough!!