[zx10guy]

But some of us doom and gloomers are trying to say is buying a house is a significant anchor in your life and finances...unless you pay cash or have a significant reserve....neither of which are common with the US consumer. With the uncertainty out there, I don't see why anyone would get into a significant financial obligation until things shake out. They're living in a place now so waiting shouldn't be a big deal. This is all reminiscent of the last housing boom.

With office space, I guess you can say it's the same as home real estate....location location. The local news just put out a story that office space in the DC area saw its first significant decline in 10 years as leases go in default or left to expire without a renewal/renegotiation. Met someone recently who works in property management and she said a huge chunk of their customers are needing some sort of payment modifications/forbearance. They're taking whatever they can get out of their customers as it's better to get something versus pushing the customers over the edge into insolvency.