Normally, I would agree with Kerry in that when interest rates start to rise, you tend to see increasing home values and a possible road to recovery, but these are probably the most unprecedented economic times in this nation's history; it really comes down to a supply and demand issue at its basis. I personally believe this crisis will be far worse than the Great Depression of the 1930's and the worst crisis ever in the history of the United States, but it absolutely needs to occur for things to eventually get gradually better a few years down the road. This will be extremely challenging for most people because more and more people will continue to lose their jobs or go from full time employment to part-time employment, the prices of consumer goods will rise exponentially, as taxes in all forms will increase and there is a high likelihood of hyperinflation and deflation on the horizon. Because of all of these indicators, it would be prudent to infer that there will be a massive glut of houses on the market that will not sell eventually because of everything going on in the marketplace. But I believe strongly that if you do wait, you will find some housing in Seaside that you can pick up at a tremendous bargain for virtually pennies on the dollar in some cases, though rates may be increasing but will have to adjust and correct because many people will not be able to afford housing as we progress further into this spiral. The good news is that this will also present unprecedented opportunity for investors when the time comes, but you have to realize that average home values will continue to decline, and be highly cautious of getting in too quickly unless you have a short term strategy in mind as the overall debt load in the nation increases exponentially. Thank you and good luck!

I believe Empower is correct in the fact that more properties should enter in the market from bank foreclosures, but I'm very hesitant to recommend to people that they wait because prices will be lower.

We're already seeing interest rates start to rise. There is no telling where the rate will be 6-9 months from now. Add the fact that the first time home buyer tax credit will have expired, and you could be missing out on a very good opportunity right now.

It's not how much the home is going to sell for that's important, it's how much the fixed rate mortgage payments will be.

There will be no shortage of REO and Short Sale properties as an influx of new houses will come into the Seaside market will appear in the next 2-3 months. You will find better bargains as far as home values because you will have less competition as the buyer pool will tend to thin out with the current and impending conditions. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight but if you are looking to buy, I would hold off for a few months and wait for prices to come down so you can get a real bargain when you do buy---say in 6-9 months or so. The main issue at hand here is the fact that there is an unsustainable debt load by individuals and companies everywhere and the stimulus and omnibus spending bills will have little effect in stablizing the market but instead pushing off the inevitable---main point being prices will continue to decrease in 6 months. You are seeing some values stablize or increase slightly now because of the increase of buyers putting in bids on the market now and naturally that will increase home values but it is largely fictitious and we expect another drop in average home values.

Lily, are you asking if more bank owned, or REO properties will be coming on the market? For sure. The thing is, these are being hunted pretty hard by lots of buyers right now. I've got the buyers I work with prepared to make offers at a moments notice. They are pre-approved for a loan and they've given me detailed criteria on the type of homes they wish to buy. I search the market several times a day and call them as soon as something comes up.

All bank owned properties that are priced at market value or below are going to escrow in less than a week.