Let's Look at the Positives in U.S. Housing

November 21, 2007

It seems that each day we open the daily newspaper, we are bombarded with doom and gloom about the state of the real estate market place. Recently Doug Duncan, the chief economist for the National Mortgage Bankers Association gave a speech concerning the state of the real estate mortgage market.

Here are some numbers he cited that the media did not include in their review of his statements.

1. Thirty-Five percent of the homes in the U.S. do not have a mortgage.

2. Some 94.88 percent of the loans ARE performing.

3. Only 25 percent of all mortgages are subprime, and of these, 75 percent are

performing.

4. The foreclosure problem in the U.S. is really a story about seven states.

In the other 43 states, foreclosures have fallen in 2007 from 2006.

There is no doubt that the real estate market is going through a period of adjustment, but there is a lot of good news that is just not being reported.

It is time to be grateful for the good that is in one's life and pause for the day of Thanksgiving.