[ladyjane]

Yes, I hear from my relatives in the Bay Area that everything is fine and then I read in the papers that real estate values are going down and rents are way down.

Who knows? Who believes anything in the papers? Who reads the papers?

[Svartalfiar]

Yes, I hear from my relatives in the Bay Area that everything is fine and then I read in the papers that real estate values are going down and rents are way down.

Are any of y'all's relatives actually trying to sell their homes? You know they're not gonna lower property valuations for taxing, so do they have any other practical experience with what the values actually are? If they're just living there, staying there, the only property valuation you'll really see is for property taxes, which is not really reflective of actual sale prices very often.