Don't ever take real estate advice from people talking about figures at a national level.
The real estate agent is right: Real estate is driven by submarkets: local subdivisions, workforce areas, key cities, etc. We have areas in Phoenix that have dropped 60% since '07, and we have areas that have dropped 9% since '07.
Schiff is correct, prices nationally have tanked across the country for the majority of the country in '07.
What we are expecting in december is the following:
-Congress won't extend the first-time home buyer tax credit.
-Home prices were artificially inflated along with demand for them to close before the tax credit deadline.
-November-Feb traditionally is a slow time for residential real estate (nobody wants to move during the winter & holidays)
-There wont be rushed first-time buyers snatching up properties, so the inventory will build.
We are expecting there will be some major price drops with a lot more houses being on the market this winter.