While this article highlights individual stories of how some people are dealing with the downturn, the quotes in this excerpt below were most interesting – from latimes.com:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cover13-2009sep13,0,7125080,full.story

Not everyone is buying it. Eventually, when the economy regains steam and housing prices rebound, Southern Californians will again stretch to buy a house they cannot really afford, some believe.

“People have short memories and just look a couple of years ahead,” said San Fernando Valley real estate agent Gary Rapoport, who represents clients generally looking for properties in the $400,000 range.  “They just want to buy whether they qualify or not.”

Real estate economist Christopher Thornberg seconds that view. Californians display a sort of amnesia about downturns that affect the housing market, he said, whether caused by financial-market debacles or the collapse of the technology boom. Price slumps in each of the last four decades, he noted, didn’t dispel the perception of residential real estate as a sure-bet investment.

“We’ve been here before,” Thornberg said. “People have a shocking ability to forget the past.”

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