According to the Real Estate Center’s chief economist, investors will return when:

1. they can believe bond ratings agencies again;
2. they can believe corporate accounting again;
3. they think the recession is nearing an end;
4. they think house prices are stabilizing nationally;
5. they regain confidence in the value of a contract and that the federal government will not change the terms of mortgages the investors may have invested in;
6. there is clarity regarding what the income tax rates and capital gains taxes will be in 2009 and beyond;
7. they have sorted out the massive government intervention and determined the unintended consequences; and
8. the return on short-term cash gets so low that corporate dividends and corporate bond interest become attractive again.