How long do you think it will be before housing prices start going up again?

lucky you, there’s no end in sight for the increases here – well, they’ve slowed down, but no drops as of yet…

I am interested in what will happen. Around where I live they built tons of these huge mini mansion subdivisions that I can’t fathom you could populate as readily as other areas. I wonder how they will price to sell.

I should note that I live in a 35 year old sub division that was, at one time out in the farm fields. we are now surrounded by these places.

@ wildflower – where do you live?

Ireland

Five to ten years.

There are many factors that influence that have messed up the economy so bad; a quick fix would be that there must be true interest, willingness and real action from various lender institutions and banks to change the loans from variable interest rates to fix rates without penalizing home owners. If this doesn’t happen, I don’t see an end to this mess. The government can only intervene up to a certain point; it is not a good policy for taxpayers to bailout this crisis. Financial institutions must be held responsible for lowering their lending standards. This is a domino effect that it only keeps increasing in a downward direction. Now credit card defaults are also on the rise, which will be the next frontier of this mess. Another factor that contributes to this mess are speculators who basically play games predicting the path the economy will take and cause nothing but further chaos. So I would say there is no easy answer to this difficult question. @PupnTaco, you are probably right given all the parameters and the fact that we haven’t reach bottom yet.

From other financial sites, I keep hearing that housing prices must drop to 3X annual income before this will stabilize. There’s still a long way to go.

edmartin101 is right. The bailouts must stop or we’re dead. go here for more info: http://www.fedupusa.org/

(BTW, the latest domino to fall are union pensions; they’re starting to send out warning letters indicating significant losses in pension funds. Hope you weren’t planning on retiring anytime soon, or ever)

I tried to retire last fall but my wife said 38 with no money was to early.

@Bri_L Just 38 and looking for retirement…....... that would be a great time if you just had big bucks, huh!! I once worked in a company where there was this guy who retired when he was 65, but since he had no friends, nothing to do at home and his wife had already passed away years ago; so, he decided to come back to work. He died on his desk when he was 75. I hope this tragic incident doesn’t happen to you.

@edmartin101 Well I would probably die on my own desk and not his. Sorry, bad joke. I am glad that I like what I do and could do it for a long time. It seems like it is hard to actually retire no matter how you save and invest now a days.

@Bri_L What do you do that you like it so much?

I do illustration and animation. Although it may be made more difficult in the future (see here How to handle Essential Tremors?) I can do that for a long time and always reinvent my style.

@Bri_L You are in a good industry where the main characteristic needed is creativity. This is an ability that most people outside the US lack in, so you’re job is somewhat safe. To please a customer in the US one must a cultural background in that country. Therefore, your assets are not only in your ability to reinvent your style but also in knowing where the customer is coming from and what are his/her needs. You’re in the loop!! Keep up an outstanding job.

@edmartin – Thanks. That happens to be my favorite part to. To see something 100 other people see and see it 10 different ways than all of them, but have them like it. I love that challenge.

Thanks for the pep!

i think it depends upon your country’s economic stability, and fluctuations in your local currencies.