Some Hope in Housing Market

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=af7wMM_4MuAw&refer=home

begin quote from above webpage.
U.S. Economy: Home Resales Rise on Drop in Prices (Update1)
Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Bob Willis

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Home resales in the U.S. rose for the second time in three months in April as foreclosure auctions and cheaper prices spurred bargain hunters, buttressing the case for an end to the industry’s slump this year.

Purchases increased 2.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.68 million, in line with forecasts, from 4.55 million in March, National Association of Realtors figures showed in Washington. The median price slumped 15 percent from a year earlier, the second-biggest drop on record. A separate report indicated that the slump in home values eased in the first quarter.

“There is some bottom-fishing going on,” said Ethan Harris, co-head of U.S. economic research at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. Still, “we have a ways to go in the housing recession.”

A pick-up in sales will help trim the glut of unsold homes and eventually stem the slump in property values. That will be critical to shoring up household finances and spurring a recovery in residential construction, helping the economy emerge from its deepest recession in half a century. end quote

I have also researched from other reports how it is expected that the average home in the U.S. will lose another 10% to 15% in value in the next year. This combined with the Chrysler and GM bankruptcy will likely mean a less volatile year looking forward than we have already seen in the last 12 months. However, this will also mean more job losses which will mean higher unemployment figures nationwide. And what happens when Unemployment compensation runs out? What do people do with nowhere left to turn? Do they get resourceful and innovative and creative or do they turn to begging or crime to survive? All these questions have to be asked and answered on an individual basis. However, all of us will live with the consequences of all these millions of individual decisions nationwide and worldwide.