Originally Posted by
Just my 2 cent worth..
It is not as simple as you thought.
First of all, the property market has started to retreat, then at current market price, there isnt many willing buyer. Buyers are either looking for a huge discount to factor in the recession impact, or they just wait & see (for those who think price will drop sharply when recession comes..)
If property owner wants to cash out, they have to forego hard earn profits. Imaging you could earn 150K 4 months ago, b'cos of missing the window of opportunities, you are going to make only 50K profit only.. not many can accept that. Cut loss is always the most difficult decision.
It is not a common sense to sell now and buy later. These people already bought at good price (if they can still make profit now), if they can afford to hold the property, they need not take chance to sell the property at low profit now and risk the chance of buying property at another low price, they may not get a good price.. (how much the property price should go down further is still a unknown..)
If the property owner is already making a loss, as long he sustain the monthly payment to hold the property, he is still doing ok. By selling it, he may run into losses that can cause bankrupcy. So the property owner still cannot sell, afterall, how much the property price should fall is still a speculation now..
All these buy and sell decision may change one person's life forever, so it is not as easy as you have said in your comments.