"You can't believe how bad it's going to get"

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Commodities investment guru Jim Rogers stepped into the U.S. subprime fray on Wednesday, predicting a real estate crash that would trigger defaults and spread contagion to emerging markets.

"You can't believe how bad it's going to get before it gets any better," the prominent U.S. fund manager told Reuters by telephone from New York.

"It's going to be a disaster for many people who don't have a clue about what happens when a real estate bubble pops.

[...]

"Real estate prices will go down 40-50 percent in bubble areas. There will be massive defaults. This time it'll be worse because we haven't had this kind of speculative buying in U.S. history," Rogers said.

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articl...470530620070314

[almaty 19]

Real estate prices will go down 40-50 percent in bubble areas. There will be massive defaults. This time it'll be worse because we haven't had this kind of speculative buying in U.S. history," Rogers said.

allot of folks saw this coming./..

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

allot of folks saw this coming./..

yeap.

[Robor007 0]

Real estate values down 40% - 50%? Ouch. That's a lot. :-/

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Real estate values down 40% - 50%? Ouch. That's a lot. :-/

Those kind of % decreases have occurred in the past, in certain developments in the most overheated markets. Not everywhere.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

about a year ago a friend of a colleague put a house up for sale in COMPTON for $500k.

Yep, saw it coming.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

I saw it coming too, a long time ago. As an investor, it pays to be smart, and too many were just greedy.

[almaty 19]

same here..we bought our house and underbid ..paid cashso, the dude jumped on it..the house has gone up in value but it is able to withstand a significant drop and we still be ahead...

i saw my clients who did not have a pot to piss in...indebt up to their eye-teeth and making a small income buying houses with a huge mortage 30 years ARM..knew for a couple years the payments be cheaper than rent, but hell was coming to town after that...

[mawilson 2,133]

"Real estate prices will go down 40-50 percent in bubble areas. There will be massive defaults. This time it'll be worse because we haven't had this kind of speculative buying in U.S. history," Rogers said.

(keeping my fingers crossed)

[slim 1,533]

About four years ago, my grandpa, who was a construction supervisor for 30+ years, told my dad, "there's going to be another depression in your lifetime. Housing is slowing down, gas is going up, we're going into a recession, and with that damn George Bush in office, we're in for another depression in a couple of years."

Can we stop it?

[cbd2cai 0]

Kinda makes me feel a lot better about getting a mortgage for much less than I qualified for and sticking with a fixed rate. Always was afraid of those big surprises at the time the rate could float.

[William33 110]

So where are the bubble areas, aside from major cities?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

So where are the bubble areas, aside from major cities?

Major cities and their burbs. Biggest bubble has been Florida and California. Some major cities didn't bubble quite as much, Dallas, Detroit, Houston for example. New Jersey burbs have been one big bubble too.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Another perspective on the issue:

Housing mess risks recession unless Fed cuts: Merrill

NEW YORK (Reuters) - House prices could tumble 10 percent this year and raise the chances the United States may slip into recession unless the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates to cushion the fall in economic growth, Merrill Lynch said in research notes this week.

[...]

Merrill said the biggest concern is that tighter lending standards in the mortgage market, even if confined to lower-quality borrowers, will constrain overall housing demand and hamper recovery in the struggling housing market.

[meauxna 15]

So where are the bubble areas, aside from major cities?

This reminds me of the PM I owe you...

Seek the bubbles....