For my 2008 inaugural post, I thought I’d take a half-serious, half-whimsical look into my crystal ball and talk about what we can expect to see over the next 12 months.

1. There will be a net outflow of agents out of the business, bringing Santa Clara county’s ratio of agents to annual transactions down to 3:1.
2. Foreign investors will continue to snap up condos in the name-brand markets like San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and New York. $1.5M for a nice condo seems cheap if you’re buying in Euros or Sterling.
3. CAR’s standard purchase contract will mushroom from 10 pages to 15 pages and in addition to the “Endangered California Red-Legged Frog Disclosure” contracts will now also include the “Errant Golf Ball Disclosure” and the “Don’t Eat Asbestos Disclosure.”
4. Google’s stock will drop to $300. Facebook will step in and buy Google. Newly minted Facebook millionaires will wander the streets of Woodside and Atherton, looking for a $4M home.
5. The San Jose Mercury news real estate editors will learn the difference between “median” and “mean”.
6. The San Jose Mercury news real estate editors will learn the difference between “Palo Alto” and “Kansas City.”
7. Countrywide will magnanimously forgive one year’s worth of interest to all homeowners in danger of losing their homes.
8. Sellers in tough markets will spontaneously offer their listing agents a 10% commission.
9. In an effort to attract more buyers, some sellers will resort to selling $1 lottery tickets to open house visitors; the winning ticket gets the keys to the home.
10. In danger of losing a major revenue stream, California’s Department of Real Estate will ease licensing regulations, removing the previous (unreasonable) stipulation that required applicants to prove they were alive.

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