More ugliness as affordability on the buy side is still a problem. Mortgage resets will continue to make struggling homeowners payments even more unaffordable. I do not think the gov't sponsored rate freeze plan will be as effective as some think. Inventory will continue to be a drag on national housing and buyer demand will continue to be pressured. Prices will continue to drop in most of the struggling markets like Miami, Las Vegas, & Phoenix with some markets seeing 10-15% drops. I am fairly negative on national housing for 2008, however, if I were in the market for the longer term I would start to get VERY interested in bidding for distressed properties that have realized a 20-30% correction in price since 2006. All in all, I think its going to get uglier before it gets better and I expect foreclosures & delinquencies to rise in 2008 causing more pain for wall street financials. I also expect commercial to follow residential and get hit in 2008.Towards the end of 2008 I expect the rate of declines for major datasets to slow, showing a glimmer of hope for 2009.



POLICE must have back-up before answering calls for help on the Flemington and North Melbourne high-rise estates.The directive was issued last week after a series of attacks on officers and police vehicles by youths armed with rocks, bricks and makeshift spears.

One in five calls to Flemington police were from the housing estate, Divisional Superintendent Brett Guerin said.

In the East Memphis neighborhood of High Point Terrace, a dented plastic water bottle and faded Dr. Pepper can rest between a set of rotting rail ties and contorted, overgrown brushwood. At first glance, the rail tracks stretching behind High Point residential backyards appears to be part of property that has been long forgotten. But this is not just another abandoned lot. It's a piece of an out-of-service railway owned by CSX Transportation, a company that has placed a $17 million price tag on the 13-mile discontinued rail corridor stretching from Midtown Memphis to Cordova. And it's all part of a brewing dispute involving a number of local entities, including a private equity firm representing a consortium of civic organizations; city, county, and state government; and one of the largest railroad companies in the Eastern United States.

Council leaders said Church Hill in Redditch needed the new shops and other services to help prevent anti-social behaviour there.

The area, which has 10,000 residents, was chosen above three others in the town to have the revamp.

The plans will include having a high street on both sides of the street to encourage more businesses to the area. New car parks will also be built.

I expect a slower than normal wall street bonus season in the months of JAN - APRIL, in terms of buyer demand. As for bonuses, yes I think they will be given out (with some departments seeing drastic cuts in bonuses) but its HOW THEY ARE SPENT that I'm a bit concerned about. I expect inventory to build as we near summertime, as a result of a slower than normal bonus season, and wall street to deteriorate as we get more clues about whether we are in a recession or not. As wall street falls, so will confidence and demand on the buy side for Manhattan real estate products. At the same time, we will see more types of sellers contribute to inventory builds toward the end of 2008; speculators, foreign buyers flipping, second home's selling, and struggling buyers who bought a bit more than they can chew or whose job security has changed to the negative. I expect job losses to grow during the first two quarters of the year as a result of the credit crisis and hit to the financial sector, leading to what I described above.