I went to see an open house yesterday (Sunday), where a 4300 square foot house was up for sale for $975,000. The appraisal was a cool mil, and the owners generously took $25,000 off the asking price. Of course, the poor owners bought the house, with a stunning view of Reno, for 1.2 million dollars!

I personally think that this empty house could not be worth more than $850,000. And that is assuming about a 30 percent decrease in house value in Reno since the peak. Of course all of Reno, on average, has decreased by 37 percent. And this price decrease of 30 percent is based upon interest rates remaining low. They are higher for jumbos, but we hear that interest rates could rise in the near term, i.e., 2010, making for fewer qualified buyers of this house.