Houses are selling

Hubby and I went out for a Sunday drive in and around the Pacific Palisades in California. The Palisades is known for beautiful houses, great neighborhoods and a long history of executives and movie moguls in residence.
This Sunday we counted over 25 open houses. We stopped by one house, asked a couple of questions and was surprised at the answers.

Houses were selling! He had 45 listings, sold 128 so far this "season" and was flipping the open house. What gives?

Mark let me in on the "new" way to buy a house: 30-40% down payment, smaller banks are lending money on stated income and the prices have dropped. The neighborhoods with activity were the usual places that are safe, upscale and close to commercial centers.

Seems there are those out there with the cash, ready to pounce and slowly, if the government doesn't get in the way , we just might have a free market recovery.