US property - Update from US colleague

A friend of mine who is a LT delegate to US is in town for some training.

I had a short discussion with her and this are the takeaways
Property related
- She is staying near San Jose
- US home property has been dropping - very obvious
- US rent market is creeping up - from US $ 1100 to 1240 for a 1 bedroom - abit surprise, accd to her, because ppl cannot afford housing or foreclosed will rent instead
- People tend to move nearer the city now due to oil prices
- US property still quite ex. eg US 400 K for a 2 bedroom
- I am referring to property in/near San Jose. For central the property are dirt cheap.... US 400 K can buy a bungalow
- Banks are restricting funds and more prudent, eg. for Jumbo loans (above 500K) interest rates are higher

Polictics related
- Obama if elected will have more trade restrictions
- according to my colleague, they are likely to have stricter rules with regards to FTA. For eg. they will only look at FTA if the other party have the same policies (like free labour laws etc)

My take
Looks like the turmoil will take at least another year to drop as houses are still expensive~ maybe drop at least 10% and due to inventories . Recovery will be fast as supported by higher rents. But definetly, will have to look at economical activities to pick up. Mood in US is still rather sombre with little jobs ard.