If only all the confidence swirling around the stock market today could find its way to potential home buyers across the nation; unfortunately it will take more than a little Greek bounce to right what's wrong in housing.
Contracts to buy existing homes fell in September, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors, and the culprit is confidence. More Americans are staying where they are more than ever before, and even Baby Boomers, once expected to fuel an active adult market, are stagnant.
What's weighing on confidence are still-falling home prices, and what's pushing those home prices down are foreclosures. That's why the Obama Administration is pushing a potential plant to auction off foreclosed properties in bulk to investors, specifically the quarter of a million properties currently on the books of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA. As demand for single family rental properties rises, so too do potential investor returns.
"There is a hope that we'll be able to do a pilot in the near future, perhaps by the end of 2011 or early 2012. However, there hasn't been any decision on timing yet," according to an administration source.