Freddie Mac Warns that Many Housing Markets Remain “\'Stalled\'”
Carole VanSickle Ellis
Frank Nothaft, Freddie’s chief economist, said that “many markets can still sustain house price gains while still maintaining strong home buyer affordability,” in essence noting that the recovery still has a long way to go. Of course, Nothaft explained this statement by saying that it causes him to “remain cautiously optimistic that the housing recovery will continue, albeit slowing, until we see more tightening in the labor market to give personal incomes a much-needed jolt.”
WHAT WE THINK: What Nothaft just said, and then spun like crazy, is that home prices are not rising because too many people are underemployed or unemployed and until that changes and they start applying for and getting home loans, the housing market is going to continue to have room to improve. Room for improvement is not a recovery. It can indicate one, but it can also indicate any number of other issues, including stagnation because we have too many houses, not enough homeowners, and a national case of neighborhood blight! 13 of the 50 states and our national Capitol can be considered “stable,” not growing, not thriving, but “stable.” Does this sound like a recovery to you?
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http://investing.bryanellis.com/11091/freddie-mac-warns-that-many-housing-markets-remain-stalled/
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