Your call: Housing predictions for 2008

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Thanks to all who contributed predictions for 2008. Below, some of my favorite L.A. Land reader predictions for 2008. For those who missed my predictions, they’re here.

Your predictions:

Mark G: ‘There will be a new definition for ‘Sweat Equity’: ‘The value of my home and the loss of equity is causing me to sweat profusely.’’

Victor the Predictor: ‘(Countrywide CEO) Angelo Mozilo will become ambassador to the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival.’

Michael T: ‘The naysayers on this blog will continue to live cheap, petty little lives even after they manage to buy the property they’ve always dreamed of.’

Michael Snyder: ‘A flood of new taxes, fees and fines will assault home owners and small businesses as panicked local governments try to make up for the loss of their predicted windfall from increasing property taxes.’

Cal: ‘Mortgage insurance companies will start imploding constraining mortgage credit further (especially hurting the Fannie/Freddie market). 30 yr fixed rates hit 7.5% as investors back away from the mortgage market altogether.’

Who Cares?: ‘Bubble blogs, which have contributed to the hysteria, and continue to do so, will fade and go bye-bye, just as the hot real estate market of yesterday did.’

Brettdl: ‘The U.S. government will be forced to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Countrywide will go belly up or be bought out by a foreign entity.’

Amir: ‘2008 will cause builders and contractors to default, throwing their inventories back to the banks, and send prices even lower for 2009 when we’ll see the recession everybody’s talking about.’

More from Cal: ‘So. Cal sales start showing slight year over year increases in August 2008 and each month forward. Resale inventory plateaus.’

Rob: ‘Kate in the Valley will finally settle on a 3-bed 2-bath craftsman near a park for 50% off peak prices. Sells the movie rights for full value.’

Keith: ‘Kate will be played by Sandra Bullock in the movie, or possibly that gal from ‘Weeds’.’

Bonus prediction from L.A. Times op-ed columnist Joel Stein: ‘Home prices drop an astounding 15%. Far more disheartening to Americans who bought homes in the last three years, stainless steel kitchen appliances go out of style.’

Thanks, everybody, and Happy New Year.