Predictions for 2008

2007 was an interesting year. Prices came down a little bit in my area, but certainly there was no collapse. Probably about a 5-7% decrease. Because we live so close to Wall Street, and equities markets didn't bust, prices maintained their anchor to a large degree. Obviously in 2007 there were huge credit market dislocations with a resulting credit crunch, this crunch seemed to cause less damage to housing prices (so far) than I would have thought. I think because 2008 is an election year, there will be a lot of politically motivated fiscal decisions (a-la MLEC) this year. Anyway, here are my predictions for 2008:

1. R/E: Nationally, continue to slide 5-7%; Bergen County: down 3-5% if Wall Street has no bust, 7-11% if there is a bust.
2. Equities markets: flat to mildy down. (+4% to - 4%)
3. Commodities: Pull back/consolidation year, unless there is a major geopolitical event.
4. Fed: Continues to cut rates to about 3.5%, regardless of what the Chinese say.
5. Bonds: NO IDEA!

Would love to hear other peoples predictions/guesses