The Washington Post is reporting today:
“Housing prices continued to climb but consumer confidence slipped, according to two reports released Tuesday, casting mixed signals about where the economy is headed.
…many of the housing indicators are pointing in the same positive direction, several analysts said. They attribute the improvements to a temporary $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, historically low interest rates, and rock bottom prices in many areas, especially regions plagued by foreclosures.”
Reading further, though:
“Analysts say they are also bracing for lenders to resume sales of foreclosed homes. Many lenders had temporarily halted foreclosure sales as they waited to learn more about new government-led modification programs aimed at helping distressed borrowers.
Furthermore, economists are closely tracking a round of adjustable-rate mortgages that will reset in the next year or so, possibly to much higher rates. Many of those loans are held by credit-worthy prime borrowers as well as people who took out non-traditional loans that did not require verification of income.”
On balance, it looks like more pain ahead for homeowners. Perhaps a great deal of pain as adjustables reset and unemployment numbers continue to climb.
We are not out of the woods yet.
The full article – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/29/AR2009092903690.html
