Collapse.

In all good Ponzi schemes, the "C" word always comes up as the shepple run for the exits. A classic financial flim flam collapse, but for this one, done on such a massive, epic and historic scale, that these historic days will be talked about for generations. Hundreds of years will go by and people will still talk about the "great housing collapse of 2007".

Here's Newsday's "collapse" headline:

As housing bubble collapses, developers and sellers cut prices, await deals and pray for a rally in '07

Two months ago, Chuck Davis finished building a new three-bedroom, two-bath ranch in Shirley, and he put it on the market for $315,000. He considered it a rare find for potential first-time home buyers and hoped it would sell quickly.So far, however, Davis hasn't had any calls on the house, which, although new, is competing with 1,000 existing-home listings in Mastic and Shirley.

"I'm maxed out right now until I unload some of these homes," Chuck Davis said.Similar stories abound - and the incentives are growing. Builder Alec Ornstein, a partner in Ornstein Leyton Co. in Garden City, is offering buyers an upgraded kitchen or, in some cases, a year of paid real estate taxes. Steven Klar, an East Meadow developer, is throwing in a Mercedes with some of his homes."It's a buyer's opportunity right now," Klar said.