Gary Probst

Tsk, Tsk. Wanting to see a vibrant housing market is not an indicator of realtor or developer greed. There have been two long-standing engines of our economy, transportation and housing. Well, with General Motors having massive layoffs, Ford teetering and jobs flowing to Mexico and Asia, daily, one thing that can't be "outsourced" is land. If the transportation market is faltering, we'd all better darn well hope the housing market revives. Demand increases prices, not realtors. We don't have that kind of power. Sorry to disappoint. Demand is still high but financing is crimping activity. Because somebody has the contrived and mysterious 600 credit score means financials try and take advantage of a perceived weakness with higher rates, thus, predatory lending, which happened just a few years ago.

Don't blame real estate people for the current housing crunch. Its a situation of lower net wages, higher energy costs and less than honorable tactics by large lending organizations, as they "sucker-punched" consumers. Remember the loan offers of 1% (for six months) and "pay what you want" offers, as recent as 2006??? So, how are realtors responsible for that? - Sat Jun 21 2008, 19:46