Although I'm a real estate broker, I believe it's a healthy turn of events that people are cooling their heels on real estate. Real estate investment is a job for someone with the skills, knowledge and aptitude for investing. The myriad inexperienced "investors" lured in by rising prices during the boomnever understood the fundamentals or reality of the real estate market -- some luckily did well, many got caught up in the hype and inflation. This is what happens when government interferes in the market and creates incentives to spend in a certain sector. The easy money, easy qualification and low interest ratesbrought way too many "playas" into the market. Fannie and Freddie supported a boom that went bust.

Perhaps now buyers will look at homes as a place to live. The investment of home-buying has run its course -- yes, if you buy a home and live there for 10 years or so, you should realize an increase in value that's a little higher than inflation, but this is not a given and looking at home-buying strictly as an investment is misleading. You would haveto crunch the numbers after 10 years to see if you are any better off than if you had rented -- in some slow markets you might not be better off after 10 years.

But owning a home has more value than ROI -- it's your personal space and an expression of your lifestyle. It's the freedom of having more control over your living environment. It's the comfort of ownership (although it's limited with a mortgage and covenants and zoning and such). At least with ownership you don't have a landlord making decisions that you might not agree with -- or you are are not asked to leave because of a sale. Owning a home gives you more control over your life as it relates to shelter, but looking at it as aninvestment requires a true assessment of expenses, and the investment is contingent on the market.

Perhaps there will be more rationality in the market once the government quits interfering and tinkering with incentives.