IS THE HOUSING MARKET BUBBLE IN CALIFORNIA HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

It has been a matter of great discussion now for the last year not
whether there was a bubble in the California real estate
housing market (there was), but whether it has really burst yet,
whether it only partially burst, whether that little pffft you heard
was the bubble actually popping, or whether it is yet to pop, or is now
set to re-inflate yet again.

Okay, so the housing market was getting ahead of itself Hard as
it is to remember now, there was a time only a couple of years ago when
people were paying bonuses to sell your property California.
When there were lotteries at new housing developments
because there were way more buyers interested than there were new
homes. When properties listed were sold the same day or by the
first weekend they were put on the MLS. When that happens, and it
was happening even in areas in the mid-west, there is a bubble.

Today, the real estate markets across the U.S. are flooded with homes
for sale. Sales are way down across the board. Which means,
except for those who have to buy something (for instance, because they
have moved) or in the case of first-time buyers, no one is buying
because it is almost impossible to sell their existing home in the
first place.

But a strange thing is happening. Prices arenâ€'t going down.
At least, not like one would expect in a real market bubble. In
fact, in a surprising number of areas, prices are rising What
this means is a couple of things. Except for individual sellers
facing their own special circumstances, there is no general
panic. People have already discounted their prices to a large
extent. And, it appears that, at least in the short term, people
are prepared to wait it out or at least wait a certain number of months
before discounting their prices any more.

Some psychologists (or economists posing as psychologists) have
attempted to diagnose this situation in terms of the ostrich sticking
its head into the sand, albeit an ostrich with a sub-prime loan that is
ticking down to zero. Other economists unafraid to openly
practice psychology talk openly using the term, denial.�

What it may come down to is how optimistic a person is. A person
who sees the glass as half full will say that the bubble is half gone
and is now just right. A person who sees the sky falling down and
the glass as half empty, will say that the bubble is only half deflated
and has another half to go before the bubble disappears.

I see it more in terms of a bottle of beer. At half full, Iâ€'ve
had half of a good beer, and I still have another half to go and then I
will simply order another beer and talk some more with that cute
cocktail waitress. Cheers.