[Olly]

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmoke

Nice try, Olly.

You obviously do not live in Bend, because it is not "predictions" of property starting to sell. Property is already selling, and the buyers are already out there, and houses are in escrow and some have already closed.

Buyers are coming into the area in decent numbers and are in the market to purchase.

Since I live and invest here, and I talk to the investors and real estate agents with boots on the ground, I think I am better qualified to speak of the Bend market than someone who doesn't live here.

Oregon

Certain you mean well but you are reporting what maybe true on your street and a few others you know of but, across Bend as a rule, it's just not happening the way you mention. How do I know this? Because the weekly, monthly stats from the regional branch of the National Association of Realtors reports the facts & figures without personal bias, just the facts. What sold and for what price on which street and right down to the house number. Then, it takes the collective statistics, analyses them and issues these figures to each member of the NAR...of which I am one. Moreover, my colleagues based there report very similar 'facts'.

Of course your own findings are valid to you and well done if you've found a way to beat the trend, but tryining to convince people outside the US to invest their money in a country's housing market which has fallen to its worst state in 16 years, is not a clever thing to do 'right now'.

This Spring will dictate whether prices stop faltering and return to a semblance of normality or, continue to slide for at least another year. If the latter ocurrs, then probably a 'safer' time to begin looking will be early 2009. Though the market may not have bottomed out by then, it'll be close enough to consider current bargains before the market begins its rise. However, this all still maybe since many anlaysts predict this US housing crisis will remain till past 2010.

Clearly we shall all have to wait and see.

With kind regards...

Olly