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To add to my previous post, here is a section from the Feb 20th, 2006 edition of Fortune.

[i]"A Tale of Two Markets Is the bubble finally bursting or is housing
still strong? Both. Half a decade into the biggest real estate
boom in our nation’s history—and a full two years after pundits
began warning of collapse—the endgame remains unclear. Here’s
what we can learn from a pair of high-profile hot spots, Orange
County and Boston. by Ellen Florian Kratz (page 18)"[/i]

I figured you might be interested since the article covers Boston.

Scotty, the market is already heading south here in California and is expected to further decline in 2006. In contrast Portland, Oregon is supposed to post a modest gain in 2006. An article in the Dec 26th edition of Fortune listed the median prices of homes across the whole country and predictions of future gains/losses. These prices were from mid 2005 but the article was excellent read. Check it out at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/12/26/8364648/index.htm (you may require a subscription)

Given how real estate prices have climbed steeply in Boston, your best time to sell would be now. If the real estate bubble does deflate a lot, then holding onto the property for a long time while renting it out to build equity seems like a sound plan. This is coming from a novice and there is a chance my assessment might be different from that of the experts.

Thanks for your insight Bryan. The book you mentioned looks very interesting and I will check it out.

The San Mateo, CA area has always had a lot of growth with companies like Visa (I hear they are planning to go public), Fisher Investments, Templeton Investments and Gilead Sciences (a biotech company that has licensed some AIDS medicines) situated in this area. However in the last six months I have noticed houses stay on the market longer but without a significant drop in prices. With the median house price coming in at $766,000 for this area in mid 2005 (according to an article in Fortune), I am not surprised that the housing market is slowing down here.

Last week I noticed an apartment complex (8 units I think) for sale in South San Francisco. I know it is not very close to Half Moon Bay, but it looked like an interesting investment given the high rental rates in the bay area.

This is my first post on this board and I figured I would ask the real estate experts about their thoughts on this topic. I have been negative on home builder stocks for quite some time now and they have indeed dropped a lot in the recent past. With real estate values slowly deflating, do you think real estate investors will diversify into the stock market or are they more likely to switch into cash, gold or bonds?

Hi Guys,

I am the editor of a free investment newsletter called SINLetter that is focussed on stocks. Since real estate has helped prop up the economy over the last few years, I have been watching it very closely and figured the experts on these forums may be able to provide valuable feedback about the direction of the real estate markets and their insights in general.