I have recently spent time in the San Diego area. It was an eye opener, foreclosures all over the place, yet waterfront apartments in Coronado still asking over $2,000,000 and at least 1 had sold. 3 bedrooms and over 1800sq ft but I wonder if, after the financial meltdown, these properties will be even looked at. This time even the people with disposable capital must be taking a breather and wondering if any of their investments are safe.

I have a client that invested this year in Real Estate in the States and had already seen his investment loose ½ of what he paid, in 4 months. It’s a long term investment but just how long it will take to recover his equity is now any ones guess. .

 I read that this is the sort of economy that million and billionaires are created.  People that take investment gambles and have the money to make cash purchases probably.

In England there is a growing trend for buyers to demand a price reduction just before they have to pay for the property otherwise they will walk away from the deal, not a good situation if the seller has bought another property, their Real Estate transaction is vastly different from BC but we are hearing about buyers wanting out of the contract before completion because of perceived falling values.

 I don’t doubt that it will hit us may be not as hard but we will be affected. The real estate market will slow down faster as buyers re think their futures but if you are thinking about long term real Estate investments  this will be the time to get a little more serious there will be some opportunities out there, not as many as the States but perhaps a little more secure, in the short term.

If you are trying to sell right now it’s a frustrating time but it is really is a “normal market” after several years of sellers markets. The election does not help apart for creating political uncertainty the amount of signage out there tends to make for sale signs blend into the background.