Housing Doom

The number of  home sales for the Phoenix area came out today in today,s Arizona Republic.  It appears that buyer’s and sellers are having a hard time determining where prices ought to be–and Zillow.com is having a hard time keeping up. 
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Twist’s post Thursday on sub-prime lenders attracted an especially thoughtful comment from regular reader "Mike". I’m repeating the whole comment here, edited [1] into point form. Please refer back to the post for the Mike’s original version and the context.

One of the best things about this site for the last few months has been it’s focus, in a non-partisan and open way, on the direction and impact of housing prices and value.

As a frequent reader can I just say “we get it” with reference to the quasi-government and sub-prime lenders and perhaps suggest that publishing version "VII" of these screeds is, at this point, neither interesting nor informative. Readers now know to avoid these products and that they may damage the economy at large. And, as "John M." notes, what someone who has such a loan should actually do requires professional advice. The absence of reader comments on such postings in the last few weeks could be a market signal!!

How about more on developments in housing markets in terms of price and inventory changes? Did anyone notice a reasonable and balanced note in today’s Az Republic,[2] business section, on the buy or rent question?

And finally, who determined that Daughty’s written mess [3] called “The Big Magambo Lesson” was a “relevant article”? To me it appears relevant only on a site dedicated to self-gratification by faux intellectuals.

Thank you both for your obvious efforts. Many readers are making the buy/sell/hold determination every day. They need less Fannie Mae gossip and more information on how an appraisal should be done in the current environment.

Well, Mike, I asked for "intense" earlier in the comments stream. Looks like I got that with a side order of "direct"! By any chance is this what you call being "a straight shooter"? I hope my response will be worthy of your challenge.

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