Timber!!!! Prices Down 51% Since February

 Mortgage rates - UP!  Timber prices - DOWN!  There is still a lot of room to fall as today's timber prices are still twice as high as historical averages.  P.S. - timber prices are a leading indicator of where home prices are headed.  

I recently learned that an "odd couple" that I know in Waterloo, IL have their rather substantial home listed for sale.  5,100 square feet of living space for a formerly attractive, 50 'ish Jefferson County, MO cow patty who parlayed her pussy into riches that she would have no way in hell of affording on her own and her Viagra popping Senior Citizen husband who is now pushing 80.  I guess the 5 acres of grass mowing and weekly cleaning of the McMansion is getting old.  In 2007 and 2008, they were heavily invested in real estate.  When that bubble burst, they and their business partners went bankrupt.  They have reduced the listing price on their large shack by $25,000 even though the listing date was in May.  I guess they did not attract any potential buyers.  Anything priced over one half million that relies upon a borrowing buyer to sell is going to move at a slower pace.  Banks are probably getting scared, as they should be since the Fed ain't going to be the dumping ground of overpriced mortgage backed securities going forward.

Down go the prices.