Nothing like kicking off the new year on a positive note. And, I can assure you, what you are about to read is anything but “positive.”
In fact, when it comes to the ever expanding subprime mortgage fiasco,the fun, say some experts, is only about to begin.
Before 2008 slips into 2009, some 1.8 million homeowners are projected to go into foreclosure because their low interest rates, used to lure them into making a purchase they clearly are unable to afford, will morph overnight into much higher rate mortgages.
A counselor to President Bush is even saying, “There’s more to be done we think on the housing front to address the concerns people have about the housing markets,” Reuters quotes Ed Gillespie as saying aboard Air Force One.
Gillespie’s advocacy of more steps to be taken by Congress and the President comes at a time when just about all economic signs look bad.
The subprime mortgage crisis, remember, stopped being a subprime mortgage crisis a long time ago . . . We are now right in the middle of a credit crisis of global proportions causing more and more people to utter that word that dare not be spoken: recession.
Like all new years, 2008 gives us all an opportunity for self evaluation and motivation to take the bull by the horns and try and change things for the better.
This is an attitude that will come in handy, I predict, in the days,weeks and months ahead, as the nation and the world try to emerge from this credit debacle reasonable in one piece.
Good luck and Happy New Year!
Article Author:
Charles FeldmanCharles has written 149 articles for us.
Visit Charles's Website: http://www.thefeldmanblog.com
Charles is currently reporting for KNX Radio in Los Angeles, is the co-author of the book No Time To Think, and can be found commenting about the news on his blog, The Feldman Blog.
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Honestly I do worry about this. The majority of foreclosure people in 2007 were having payment issues and resets in 2006. 2008 will be about people who had payment issues and resets in 2007. We haven’t even fully started yet I don’t think.
I think we are still about a good year away from the shakeout. I would imagine that we won’t see the real bottom until somewhere in 2009.
Doesn’t mean there aren’t some positive notes, like:
1. buying opportunities
2. strong rental market
Steven Boorstein
Landlord Business Insider
This is a huge deal. There is probably going to be another surge of foreclosure, so I would guess that eventually there will be another drop in home values.
As unfortunate as the crisis is, it will pose good opportunities for a brave investor.