Four years ago were the days of multiple bids as the buyers fought over the (fat) sellers homes, with the greasy slovenly realtor standing there with a fistful of dollars and a a you-know-what eating grin.

Sellers are delusional if they think these days will return.

I hope for the day when sellers fight it out on the streets, over the single buyer weilding rare pre-approval papers, with the gaunt, sleep deprived realtor in the backround, too moribund to even utter a word...

Those are rather frightening poll results. People are just as out of touch with reality as they were last year. I'm really shocked that people honestly think things will be improving soon.

Darwin Rules, I also hope for that day. For too long the market has really stuck it to buyers, particularly those wanting to live within their means. With housing expenses, insurance, taxes, media connections, internet, upkeep, utilities, and more constantly finding new excuses to increase I sometimes wonder how much longer until it all comes crashing down on even more people.

We can hope, but I do realize that we are up against a big adversary in our government, who seem determined to support irresponsibility, incompetance, and mediocrity come hell or high water.

Why did all the rich people out there stop trading up houses? Who stopped paying more and more for houses? Keep the pyramid scheme going, man! Please! How will people know you are rich if you stay in the same house? Put bids in at double the asking price for a bigger house! Come on rich people. We can do it! Who needs first time buyers!

First, the more government programs devoted to stimulating or putting a floor under house prices, the worse the long term consequences. A few years ago a good one was the charitable grants (Nehiamiah?) that were simply added on to selling prices. That wound up being riddled with fraud ended badly.

Secondly, one had only to look at what started happening when people were buying marginal properties in good communities, "rehabbing" them and flipping them for profits. That in and of itself is not a bad thing but one could see the end in 2005 when people started to pass on these as they became too expensive. The rehabbers were paying too much at the front end and thought they could continue on the cost plus approach indefinitely. I might add the game was over when people started buying properties within the better areas that were bad properties to begin with!

At the risk of being too verbose I will cite a prime example. There was a 1950's house on Charles St (4100 blk) tucked in among grander homes., In other words it was anomalous to it's setting. A speculator bought it for $435K or so plus transaction costs, put around $150K in it (I am guessing there) and expected to resell it for over $800K because it was in Guilford. He wound up trying to auction it after it did not sell, decided to relist it and wound up over a year later getting $590K for it. He got killed on that one. There are a lot more like that and the foreclosures reflect it.

This has to be purged and we have to start over on a sustainable basis. prices have to go where they need to go despite some of us being under water. If you borrowed or paid too much take your medicine and get over it.