I hate it as well! Our paper has put out all kinds of scary consumer articles. The other problem is that they are often not very well founded. It seems like they run stuff like that just to get sales and in the process may be hindering the market. The media may be making some people miss great deals and great timing. Im with you...frustrating!

Housing is the big story of the moment--we need to combat the hype with our neighborhood statistics.  A client stopped by my office yesterday with a real estate question.  He was amazed when I told him over 500 single family homes have sold on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 2007 YTD.  That's not the roaring 2005 market, but it is far from the media's daily portrayal of declining sales and sinking values.