U.S. Foreclosures Forecast to Double

The battered U.S. real estate market is worsening with an increasing number of foreclosures, which are forecast to nearly double over the next few years, according to Housing Predictor.

[ClickPress, Tue Feb 12 2008] The U.S. foreclosure crisis is worsening and the number of foreclosures will become even higher over the next few years, according to the latest report by Housing Predictor. The information driven web site is extending its foreclosure forecast into 2011.

The original foreclosure forecast issued by Housing Predictor, which tracks and forecasts more than 250 local housing markets in all 50 states called for more than 2.5 million foreclosures in the nation through 2009 and was then increased to more than 3-million. The research firm is nearly doubling that forecast as the credit crunch combined with rising unemployment and weakening consumer confidence damages real estate markets in the over-whelming majority of the country.

The foreclosure crisis has materialized into the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, and little is being done to solve the massive problem. An increase in the FHA loan limit and the White House stimulus package will do little to aid millions of homeowners who have already lost their homes in foreclosure and millions of others, who are at risk of losing their homes.

At the height of the Great Depression President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Home Owners Corporation to provide loans for those having trouble making their mortgage. A similar program is needed to fix the crisis before it sends the U.S. economy into a depression.

The crisis started in subprime mortgages more than a year ago and has spread into new conventional adjustable rate mortgages. A Housing Predictor survey found one in six home owners fear losing their homes to foreclosure.

The Federal Reserve has been on an interest rate cutting path in an attempt to help the national economy. The Fed was formed in its present form and equipped with new laws to limit the likelihood of another Great Depression from occurring. The changes gave the Fed new powers and assisted the economy’s recovery from the Great Depression. The World has changed massively since the 1930's.

The foreclosure epidemic is already making an impact in other areas of the economy. Credit card delinquencies are up. Auto payments are being made late in increasing numbers, and consumer confidence is waning.

Home prices in the over-whelming majority of local U.S. housing markets are falling. Some markets have already seen prices come down as much as 50% from their peaks. Foreclosures are already at record highs. The damage is leaving neighborhoods all over the country blighted.

For more information on the foreclosure crisis or to check your housing market forecast visit http://www.housingpredictor.com

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