Is the housing crisis over?
The Wall Street Journal published an interesting opinion article on May 6, 2008 titled “The Housing Crisis Is Over”. Here's the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121003604494869449.html
Although our business has seen a small upward tick in sales activity over the last four weeks, it's hard to believe the crisis is over. (For those of you who don’t know, our company markets real estate investment opportunities to investors nationwide).
There are still a very large number of adjustable rate mortgages that were originated three years ago that are set to reset this year. These will likely increase the pace and number of foreclosures throughout 2008 and into early 2009, and those problems will extend into other areas of the mortgage industry. All of which will keep lending guidelines very tight this year.
It could be argued that the housing market is dragging along the bottom, but the fact of the matter is that lenders are still pulling back on their lending programs and that doesn’t help to sell houses in order to absorb existing inventory and help stimulate the housing market.
The large number of expert opinions and reports predict the national housing crisis to end somewhere between 2009 and 2011. What’s your opinion?
Well, that depends on your definition of a crisis. You can argue that the “crisis” is ending or will end soon. As the WSJ article points out, housing is becoming more affordable, but who will be buying these homes? All of these people that have been foreclosed will not get approved for a loan for at least a few years which would take us to the end of 2011 or early 2012.
Scott Epstein
Broker/Owner
AMR Properties Inc.
http://www.illinoisrealestate.com