there is no need for deep analysis..all one need to do is to look for amount of homes for sale in his area. in my zip-it's all time high(> than 2007-09 levels). if things are great(as US gvt telling us) why everyone is selling in my neighborhood?
or (even simpler) -compare YTD returns- http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IYR&ql=0 http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=spy&ql=1 spy +16%, IYR-2% housing recovery my ***. and that's why they are selling\giving up
the current trends are: 1) prime real estate in prime locations are selling great. i've heard prices rise 5-10% a year with some of these. 2) avg/poor RE in shitty locations : nobody wants that crap. middle class/poor people have less and less $ and cannot afford even cheap homes. as far as i know, these trends are worldwide. London? Singapore? Manhattan, San Francisco? All these areas are doing very well.