The Wall Street Journal has an article today entitled: Real Estate faces Tough Recovery Slog. Below are a few excerpts from the article:
Rates could rise by a full percentage point after those purchases end, sapping any housing recovery, says Ronald Temple, portfolio manager at Lazard Asset Management. He predicts that prices could fall by 15% to 20% if the program ends as planned in March.
Home sales also have been supported by an $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers. It, too, was set to expire in 2009 but was extended by Congress through the first half of 2010 …
Adding to the problem, the number of struggling homeowners is steadily mounting. One in seven households with mortgages was either in foreclosure or delinquent on payments at the end of September, the most recent data available from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Some owners are defaulting because they have lost their jobs.
File Under: We’re not out of the woods yet.
