#ric

Housing was ground zero for the Great Recession. Between early 2006 and Obama's inauguration in 2009, average house prices fell by a third across the country. In certain areas, including cities as diverse as Akron, Orlando and Las Vegas, house prices fell by more than half. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#akron #areas #average #between #certain

Investor demand for distressed property has been healthy, as rents rise to levels that can cover investors' costs while they wait for properties to appreciate. Giving investors a small tax break should further juice up demand, supporting prices for distressed homes and the market in general. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#been #break #costs #cover #demand

It is time to move on. House prices won't rise and the economy won't fully engage until more distressed properties are resolved and put back into ordinary use. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#distressed #economy #engage #fully #house

It's time to pull the bandage off America's foreclosure problem. The economy is ready to emerge from its recent dark period, but to make it happen soon we need to speed the resolution of millions of troubled home loans. Six years have passed since the crisis began, yet instead of accelerating, foreclosures have slowed. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#bandage #began #crisis #dark #economy

No one should expect the value of their house to appreciate quickly - counting on your home to be a significant part of your retirement saving isn't a winning strategy - but it is reasonable to expect that prices generally will rise with at least the rate of inflation for some time to come. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#come #counting #expect #generally #home

The average credit score of today's FHA borrowers is higher than the average American household with a score. As it becomes more costly and difficult to get a FHA loan, loans from private mortgage lenders will become more attractive and their market share will grow. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#attractive #average #average american #become #becomes

Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion. ↗

— Benjamin Franklin

#portion #rejoices #rich #who

The key to house prices is the share of foreclosure or short sales in the total housing market. When that share rises, house prices will fall, because distressed properties sell for significantly less - currently around 25 percent below non-distressed houses. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#because #below #currently #distressed #fall

There is plenty of blame to go around for the U.S. housing bubble, but not much of it belongs to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two giant housing-finance institutions made many mistakes over the decades, some of them real whoppers, but causing house prices to soar and then crater during the past decade weren't among them. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#around #belongs #blame #bubble #causing

They called me the sexiest economist in America, and that was years ago, when I had hair and body mass and my teeth were shiny. ↗

— Mark Zandi

#america #body #called #economist #had