stimulate us. the second thing, back to steve s comment on the housing, i don t think a lot of people have taken out loans, home equity loans against their mortgages. i think in fact, people who are trying to move from home to home, that s true. but most people are paying their monthly bills and the other thing is, if you look at rates, rental rates, they re going through the roof. that means, that right there, people are going to start to eventually move out of the rentals into homes, as homes become more affordable and existing moment sales are perking along. new home sales, i agree, with ground to a halt what s that say, inventory is drying up. eventually housing is coming back. we re closer to the bottom, i know we ve seen that for a year or so. three to five years from the bottom. as someone who wants to move, the housing comes back. and million dollar houses like yours and i wish it was a 10 million dollar house. the middle class doesn t
excessive rain, and the wind. reporter: so the question is, when all is said and done and irene blows back out to sea, it will raise a lot of questions about man s folly of building multimillion dollar houses and hotels right up against the ocean. scientists have been saying it is folly for decades but you weigh that, obviously, against the economic benefits a town like this provides. neil: a very good point but they do it everywhere. in new jersey they are almost in the ocean. thank you, doug, good reporting. that is ocean city, maryland. can you believe that? clear out. a lot more coming up including the insurance fallout from all of this and forget the flash lights, the back upgenerators and this could be the biggest lifesaver in the storm. simple stuff you need to know.
private manning s needs. jenna: you say that move is coming soon. thank you for joining us. my pleasure. rick: florida s real estate market that state had really one of the first real estate markets in the country to collapse. prices there are just starting to recover a bit. it s enough to coax some owners to put more properties back on the market. and while some bargain hunters are scooping up homes and condos others are using the opportunity to buy their own private island. phil keating is live in florida with the latest on this. hi, phil. reporter: hi, rick the original plan back four years ago was to take this eight-acre island dived it into 17 lots, put multi-million dollar houses on the lots, the total about $19 million. the owner took the island off the market, the market crashed. condo and home sales now are up more than 50% leading this owner to put this island back on the