Hoganomics

How Will the Housing Crisis End?

I agree with TM... not sure affordability is the only issue, at least at the national level. I was considering buying a condo here in Boston area about six months ago, and while it didn't seem to be a great fit for my personal situation, the price on a monthly basis was not totally out of line with the monthly rent (like something on the order of 5-10% drop seemed reasonable).

That's how people consume residential real estate, on a monthly basis... The price runup on a national level over the past decade or so was due primarily to falling interest rates over a very long period, and interest rates are still stubbornly low, making affordability not that out of whack, at least not if/until rates revert to historical means. Can't speak for some other markets like the southwest though, but here in the northeast the problem seems to be availability of credit to people who can handle it, or fear that the market will continue to fall keeping people who should buy from doing so.