Thanks, Vicki - interesting article.  Really felt deep pain for the guy whose mortgage shot from $1200 to $2700.

Thanks Vickie

My wife and I work as a Realtor Team in the Greater Portland Oregon area. Here in Oregon we are enjoying a strong economy with high employment and our housing situation has not reached the critical stage yet as our state has one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the country. That being said, we are still experiencing an 8 month inventory and business is very slow.

Thank you for your article contribution. We feel that a very large part of why many of our country's Real estate regions are having problems is the Media is overstating the problems of the Real Estate Markets and creating a Buyer Phobia. Our Buyers are no different. There is so much inventory to choose from and if you were to believe the Media, prices will keep falling, so our Buyers are in no hurry. I call it the Manana Syndrome.... if I wait to buy, something better is bound to pop up tomorrow.

I do believe that some parts of our country are very overpriced, others are drastically underpriced. I think this year and possibly next year are going to be a settling time, some areas prices will re-adjust, some will experience needed increases and the public will educate themselves over time, with out help, and we will again return to a normal market in spite of the media hypes. Hang in there!

Thanks, Jim

Thanks, Vickie

Thanks for the heads up, Vicki. This is worth sharing.