What is Considered "Normal" in the Housing Market?

Even though we're still getting the monthly up and down jolt new stories of the general housing market, most experts have finally started saying that we are at, or near, the bottom of this housing bust. Most of the big markets with the major busts great downward spirals have slowed or stopped. Many markets have even seen a tick or two in the UP direction. Signs of a stabilizing housing market? Maybe.

Here's what troubles me. As we start to bottom out and begin stabilizing the market and start the march to steady appreciation again, many news articles add in to their stories "we still have a long way to go before we reach the previous peaks of the housing the market. YOU DON'T SAY!

Maybe these guys are hoping for a quick turn around and boom years again. I truly can't imagine what they're thinking when they write that. I thought the whole goal in the housing industry was getting back to Normal. The boom years were clearly NOT a normal market. The boom was fueled by easy lending standards, a surging economy and quite frankly...greed.

Setting our sights on the peak of the housing boom as a price goal is fool-hardy. It won't be reached again for a long, long time. Give it up.

We can, however, get to a normal market again. One where the value of a property can be directly tied to the income levels of the area. Where there is a normal time on the market for homes to sell. Those time frames will vary with the market, but I can safely say that it's not normal for homes to sell in days or in years. The average time on the market for what used to be called normal is six months.

So, news people, do you think we can stop focusing on the crash, stop focusing on the boom, and start focusing on getting back to normal? What do you say?