Ben Bernanke: Foreclosures to Peak 2nd Half of 2009
Yesterday, Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress about the economy, and about his plans to exit from economic stimulus measures with an eye on controlling inflation. However, he also made mention of his views of the housing market and foreclosures. HousingWire reports on Bernanke’s statement before Congress:
US and international efforts to stem the recession are starting to take hold and the pace of economic decline seems to have slowed, but foreclosures and unemployment won’t peak until the second half of 2009 (H209), according to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
Continued measures, like a extremely low federal funds rate, will be needed to get the economy back on track, Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.
“The [Federal Open Market Committee] anticipates that economic conditions are likely to warrant maintaining the federal funds rate at exceptionally low levels for an extended period,” Bernanke said, according to prepared testimony.
Clearly, though, even after foreclosures peak, there will be a long recovery ahead. Many of our leaders have tried to make it clear that housing market recovery and economic recovery will not happen over night. In fact, it may take years before the housing market recovers. But the first step will be a peak in foreclosures. Once foreclosures peak, they can begin to reduce in number until the housing market begins to recover and excess inventory can be sold.
It is important, however, to realize that we need to learn from this crisis. The bottom line is that people were getting homes that they really couldn’t afford, and that triggered the problems we have now as that realization came crashing down. Let’s hope that this crisis has taught us a lesson about a more sober approach to home ownership, and that, going forward, we will make more of an effort as a society to be sure that we can afford the long-term costs of home mortgage loans.
[...] continues to be a very real concern. Indeed, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke thinks that the foreclosures will peak in the second half of this year. So we’re not out of the woods yet. If you are concerned about foreclosure – and think [...]
[...] The news still remains doubtful, especially considering that Ben Bernanke thinks that unemployment still has yet to peak. Indeed, Bernanke feels that both unemployment and foreclosures will peak in the second half of this year. [...]
[...] Ben Bernanke: Foreclosures to Peak 2nd Half of 2009 Yesterday, Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress about the economy, and about his plans to exit from economic stimulus measures with an eye on controlling inflation. However, he also made mention of his views of the housing market and foreclosures. HousingWire reports on Bernanke’s statement before Congress: US and international efforts to stem the recession are starting [...] [...]