I saw HP as a story that needed to be told.

It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. A struggle against the powerful. A voice for the common man. A fight of good vs. evil. And it wasn’t just HP. It was HousingDoom. And BubbleTracker. And Calculated Risk. And Patrick.net. And Bubble Meter. And Dr. Housing Bubble. And Mish. And Denninger. And Schiff. And Roubini. And oh so many more.

We won, there’s no doubt about that. The REIC, including realtors, builders, bankers, mortgage brokers and appraisers, has been discredited. George Bush is seen as the worst US president of all time. Swann, Retsinas, Norman, Todd, Atkins, De Groot and all the rest are embarrassed. Our Congress is wildly unpopular. Home prices have crashed. The stock of any company associated with real estate is in the tank (along with most others). And people who treated homes as lottery tickets got destroyed.

But at the same time, in some ways, we lost. Taxpayer dollars have gone straight into the pockets of housing gamblers, fraudsters and immoral bankers. The world economy is collapsing. The criminals are not in jail. Greedy realtors still make their commissions. And the MSM keeps reporting lies.

I’m tempted to pull the plug on HP on November 5, 2008, our three-year anniversary, as planned. I honestly haven’t made a final decision. I think I’m going to wait to see how the election turns out, and then go from there.

HousingPANIC and AmericaPANIC were voices of opposition. And when you’re in the minority, when you’re in opposition, you have passion, and a raison d’ être. When you become mainstream, your predictions come true, and the majority comes your way, then your passion recedes. And that’s OK.

First they ignore you,
then they ridicule you,
then they fight you,
then you win.

It’s been an honor HP’ers.