The Evolution of Opinion Maker's Perceptions on Local Real Estate Markets from Peak to Mid-crisis - Was There a Shift on Real Estate Rationales?

Development and investment decisions in local real estate markets as well as their risk ratings are supposed to bear connections with economic fundamentals or with direct price dynamics. If these connections change and become intriguing, market rationality has to be questioned. This paper checks the possibility of a shift in real estate market rationality between the economic boom peak and the settled economic crisis through the perceptions of opinion makers as expressed in regular surveys aimed at featuring local real estate markets. Hypotheses are introduced concerning the reasons for the altered perceptions from one survey to the other.