[quote author="roundcorners" date=1219104406]So, I guess the follow up question will be. Is there a pricing floor? Is there a risk-free fair market price for any given property? If land values can go negative, which I did not know, then technically there is no limit to how far a property might drop. I thought another good indicator to see if which a property has bottom out is looking at the cost of replacement; or the price of the improvements, as building materials and commodities rise so does your property</blockquote>
The answer to your question is posted in another thread <a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/128/P2900/#65073">here.</a>
Several things come to play: rents, inflation, commutes, jobs, taxes, design, crime, etc.
But the simple fact is previous value, construction costs, have absolutely no sway when other systemic factors come to play. Do you want to cool a 3500sf home in Murrieta when electricity costs sky rocket next year? Commute daily from Riverside if gas returns to $5/gal?
Similarly, your HOA may bust you out. The HOA is dependent on 90% paying on time. The high rises and new developments may run into problems and that becomes it's own problem.
For example, there used to be properties on Redfin listed in Tustin near the 55, the land lease was in court and because it was, 4 bedroom townhomes were listed at $80,000. The problem with land leases and HOAs are they are obligated payments for the owner, changes can have profound impacts to your value.
A home is dependent on the community it is connected to. Disrupt that connection and the house value may literally become negative, much like the example in Detroit above where the bank paid $10,000, including the closing costs, inspection, taxes and utilities to have the person buy it for $1.