John S. wrote:
First, I sincerely hope it just "slows down", not collapses.

What exactly is a collapse.

If you claim to have "been in banking for 30 years" and have to ask what
a collapse is, you've not been doing your homework or reading your
history and should perhaps consider a different occupation.

You have avoided telling us exactly how the "entire country" (your
words) will be hurt by a slowdown or even downturn in real estate
prices. Please tell us precisely how the entire country will be hurt.
Remember entire country means just that...each and every person,
business and governmental unit.

There were two reasons I used the phrase "entire country". The first is
that it is just a figure of speech; don't try and read too much into it.

The other reason is -context-. This was originally written to answer a
previous responder that said the only people affected were -just- the
sellers, a premise I disagreed with.

Please don't be so foolish or naive as to think that my figure of speech
-literally- meant every man, woman and child in the country.

Furthermore, I fully realize that even during the Great Depression of
the 1930s, as horrible as it was, there were people who weren't hurt and
even those who profited. Yet, this didn't mean the Depression was a
good thing for the country.

Petty nit picking on your part notwithstanding, I fully believe that the
collapse of any bubble, housing or otherwise, affects more of society
than just the seller and that, generally speaking, is detrimental to the
nation's economic well being.


The only crowd to get burned in this speculative madness will be those
who got in late.
Sorry, Jack--I don't buy that. Very naive of you. That's like saying a
Ponzi (pyramid) scheme is good for the early but bad for the latecomers.
I believe the Ponzi scam/scheme is ultimately going to be bad for
-everybody-, all the time, every time, early or late.

You need to look up the definitions of ponzi scheme, pyramids, etc
before throwing them around. You look like a fool by using them
inappropriately here.

I know the definition of a Ponzi scheme. YOU look the fool by missing
the analogy here--early vs. late profiting, NOT to imply that the
housing bubble is a Ponzi scheme.

But to follow up on your statement, how does the homeowner who
purchased early in this housing cycle get burned. All he has to do is
do as others have - continue to use the house as a home and make the
payments.

Yeah, right. In some instances, I am sure this will happen---BUT, how
long is the happy homeowner going to keep making payments on his
$400,000 house that is now worth $300,000? It's just like being "upside
down" with your car payments...you owe more than the car is worth.

Pardon me for not responding to the rest of your nit-picking, but it
comes down to this irreducible minimum: I believe that the the housing
bubble going bust is bad for the economic well being of this country;
you, apparently, believe otherwise. We are each entitled to our
opinions. No sense going any further.