Is Real Estate Ready for a Comeback?

This kind of headline is a dumb question, I know, because I've already said there's no "housing market"and all real estate is local.  One exception to that rule is that interest rates and lending criteria will affect real estate nationwide.  So, if the recession fears are strong enough and the Fed thinks dropping rates is more important than inflation, what will this do to real estate? Theoretically, dropping rates .25 of a point won't change the payment much on those who ARM mortgages will adjust.  However, if the fed signals another rate change downward, this could bring more investors back from the turbulent stock market and into real estate.  After all, the best bargains are found not when things are good, but when things are bad. As Baron Rothschild aptly put it, "The time to buy is when the blood is running in the streets".  Some say this is 1988 all over again - would you have rather bought in 1988 or 1998?