patrick.net

mdovell says

Foreign buyers are not enough to prop up the housing market. Don’t get me wrong they can make some gains but it won’t restore it to where it was.

The fact that foreign buyers are buying is an indication of a top, not the bottom. Foreigners always come in at or near the top of the cycle. The fundamental reason for this, is that it takes longer for news to travel and spread from the source to remote locations.

vain says

It went down for a little and down to mid-high $400k’s for a month or two. Now it’s back at $550k again and again.

Your problem is that you are having a ride with the asking price. Asking price means complete BS in this market. I have not heard of any market in USA where homes were selling at 400K in 2009 and comps are now selling 550K in 2011.

klarek says

LOL a few months ago, weren’t you using foreign cities as a benchmark, to make a case that housing is cheap in the U.S.?

Yep--and obviously you didn't get his point.

Looking at the graphs above, tell me why housing prices wont revert back to the mean? After all, if they can go up by X percent, they can go back down by the same percent, yes?

People are not making that much more than in 2000 (if any). The population, if you include retirees, is not increasing. Interests rates can't really go lower. And, I feel that rent is increasing only because people don't want to buy- and that is creating rental demand- it's a dislocation, not a correlation. Now, in my area of NJ prices are no where near even their 2000 levels.

Tell me why prices won't DEPRECIATE (not crash) back to the mean, over a number of years?

odin says

Tell me why prices won’t DEPRECIATE (not crash) back to the mean, over a number of years?

1970s style inflation.

Don't see it happening, but I can't say it won't.

The minimum wage in Calif doubled between 1968 and 1981. It could double in the next 12 years.

That's the general trend; the system desperately needs wage inflation. Maybe we'll actually get it.