Re-opening an old topic. This thread just popped into my mind, and I'm curious to know what happened to Fortuna and where people think we are now.
We did end up downsizing not long after my last post. Pulled a classic MMM move -- smaller house, cheaper, closer to work. Killed the mortgage with money left over to invest. And, best of all, we are much happier in the new house. It just fits our minimalist lifestyle better, the layout really works well, and its closer to everything.
And @carless, I've been following Garth's blog for some time now, not because I believe he is right, but because I like to challenge myself with a contrarian view to mine. He's probably about to be right (after years of doomsaying on this topic), although it remains to be seen whether there is a dramatic crash. I think we'll have a gentler pull-back than he is saying, and I still think the demographics is going to drive demand for a number of years yet, so I expect house prices will recover most of the loss within a few years.