Jeff

The Time Article submitted as .pdf from Dot Chance is false. I've seen several realtors passing this around over the last few months - even some that have printed a modified version for the their marketing materials. It's funny the she included a .pdf of the original instead of the real-time link:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1713483,00.html

Note:
Due to an inputting error in information supplied by Lending Tree, the original version of this article contained incorrect data in an example assessing the relative cost savings of buying a home today or waiting a year for the housing market to drop 10%.

Inputing error from Lending Tree? haha.

It seems like popular opinion from Realtors that the negative media is driving the crisis. This is a conspiracy theory. All you have to do is look a the housing fundamentals and you'll get your answer. Try here: http://www.patrick.net - Sun Apr 13 2008, 20:24

Until the housing fundamentals are in place I wouldn't touch the market. If you do find something that you like, plan on staying more then 5 years and can afford the mortgage it might be good for you. There a chance that if you wait longer you'll get more bang for your buck. One key element that I'm watching is forclosures/REO/Shorts vs. homeowner listings. There's still a disconnect here, until these 2 numbers come together I won't buy (not to mention that forclosures have still yet to peak). Here's a doomers site that has some great "factual" information on the current market:
http://www.patrick.net

FYI - I just rented a 600K pool home in Granada Hills for 2K a month. There's no way I could of come close to affording that on a mortgage and I have excellent credit, 10% down and 6 figure documented single income. My plan is to wait-and-see what happens. I'm sitting contently on the sidelines. I run the risk of a hot-buyers market in the future, but I'd rather have that then settle for a condo or small home seedy area and be to far underwater to get out in 5 years. - Sun Apr 13 2008, 18:41

I see this question asked a lot, and the only answers I ever see are from REALTORS saying "It's a great time to buy!". Tell that to my friend that took that advice in July and in now in a mortgage that's not worth what he paid. I'm by no means an expert, but I'm taking the "wait-and-see" approach.

Most of the what I read are predicting prices will continue to drop through the year in LA County until they reach a more realistic level. This seems reasonable considering the most communities have dropped in LA area from 2-20% this year. Take a look at Zillow.com's Quaterly Reports... http://www.zillow.com/quarterlies/QuarterlyReports.htm - Sun Aug 26 2007, 14:10

As an update to this thread I just read this...
http://www.inman.com/inmanstories.aspx?ID=64410

Thanks everyone for the answers. Very helpful. It looks like I need to move on my minimum monthly payment. :( - Thu Aug 30 2007, 16:54