What does the housing market hold?

Below is a link to a Wall Street Journal article on the current state of affairs when it comes to the housing market. It would seem as if they feel the end, or at least the very bottom of this decline is very near. They point out how it now takes fewer months of income to buy a home than it has in many years. For example in Los Angeles it used to take 4.5 years worth of income to buy a home, and now you can buy it with just 26 months of income.

On the more somber side is the fact that they think prices could drop another 5% or so before the actual bottom is reached. Of course that will vary from market to market and here in the midwest we are not usually subject to the wild swings that are seen on both coasts.

Also we often hear from sellers in particular, "when will the market get back to normal?" Well it probably has gotten back to normal. Many people still expect or long for the days of double digit appreciation in the value of their homes. When will those days reappear? We don't think they'll reappear until all the bankers, appraisers, lenders, and real estate agents who have lived through the past three years have retired. Only then when a new generation of professionals who have not gone through this come on the market will you see the mistakes repeated that have led us to the current state of affairs.

So how do you invest your money now? Have we ever talked to you about cropland?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703796504576168822497423738.html?mod=googlenews_wsj