On another post, Pete made a thought-provoking point about the difference between "vacant housing" in the official sense -- homes with violations because they're actually or effectively abandoned -- and those that are just empty:

"In my experience for every house that is boarded up, there are two houses that are vacant, but not boarded up. You can tell that they are vacant because of the 6 month old phone books on the steps and the dozen pizza fliers stuck in the door," he wrote. "My point is that im guessing that a lot of those houses arent officially considered 'vacant'. Even though no one has lived in them for over 5 years. So i am sceptical of some of the official statistics on vacant housing."

When I asked you all if you're rooting for home prices to rise, stay steady or fall, he weighed in with a comment that's too good to condense:

I own my house and dont plan to sell it or buy a new one now, or probably ever. So i dont have much personally to lose or gain either way in that regard.

But i would have to say that one thing that i have always liked about Baltimore was that someone like me could work as a construction laborer and still be able to save up and afford a house.Someone like me couldnt do that in Boston or NYC. And i would like that to continue, so others might enjoy owning a house as i enjoy it.

I now own my own construction business, doing interior demolition on rowhouses and excavating basements. So you would think that i would want prices to rise. But the fact is that my work slowed down way before the official recession hit. Houses were so expensive that many investors couldnt afford to buy shells. And potential homeowners couldnt afford to buy the houses once they were rehabbed.

Now that prices have fallen, im actually busier then ive ever been. Good solid growth is a good thing. But in my opinion, bubbles are never a good thing. Too many people still think that the only problem with the housing bubble was that it burst. But the problem ran deeper.

So im glad that some sanity has returned to the housing market. And im glad that people dont have to go massively into debt anymore just to buy a 12 foot by 38 foot rowhouse.

Josh Dowlut, another frequent commenter, had this to say in response: "Pete From Highlandtown understands more about economics than most PhD economists."

So, Pete, thank you for the part you play in the conversation here. I hope I didn't embarrass you too badly!

And I hope you regulars know that I enjoy seeing your take on things and I'm always happy to hear from you. (Lurkers, you're very welcome to join in.)

Fingers crossed that you all can start chatting here again quite soon.