A Pendulum Does Not Stop Half Way!

I mentioned in a former post the a pendulum does not stop in mid swing. In places where prices soared the highest, they will fall the lowest:

In some places, U.S. housing has suffered more damage than from a fire or a tornado. In Lehigh Acres, near Fort Myers, Florida, the New York Times says houses are selling 80% off their peaks. “Fast food restaurants are laying people off or closing. Crime is up, school enrollment is down and one in four residents received food stamps in December, nearly a fourfold increase since 2006.”It’s back to the ’30s in Lee County, Florida:

And the carnage will not be limited to those super heated areas, unfortunately.

Today, Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moodys, says he sees the end of the housing crash, "late this year" which is as much wiggle room you can give yourself and still be in this year; “presuming we see strong action by policymakers to help support the economy and the housing market, prices will begin to recover by the end of this year.”

I say he has been smoking his socks. He is ignoring the many Tsunamis just over the horizon, such as the Alt_A and Option Arm mortgages due to reset in the next few years, with 80% of the people paying less than even the full interest payment. The scandalous number of people Underwater, paying on mortgages worth less than their homes, now estimated to be about 20%, the crushing unemployment, now running about 20,000 per Day and other horrific factors.

But I guess he is just gambling to being the first one to say he "saw the end of the crisis" but the light he sees at the end of the tunnel is a lit fuse!