Bad news:  But even they don’t think the loosening up of credit standards will be significant enough to turn housing prices around.

“While credit conditions may have loosened slightly, some potential homebuyers are still struggling with credit requirements. In fact, Capital Economics points out that in November 8 percent of contract cancellations were the result of a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan.”

“Any improvement in credit conditions won’t be significant enough to generation actual house price gains,” and potential ramifications from the euro-zone pose a threat to future credit availability.

This follows an article Good published last year on the green initiative at the Volkswagen plant.  One of VW’s efforts to be environmentally friendly is the paint department.  Instead of sending waste paint to the landfill they are turning it into cement.

Last month the New York Times named Chattanooga one of the 45 places to go in 2012. Wow, Chattanooga with the likes of Helsinki, London, Tokyo, Florence, and Vienna!

If we look at the last few years this isn’t true.  At least generally speaking.   However given time the market will turn around and real estate values will begin to increase again.  The downward trend we are seeing now will not continue forever.

What does this mean for you?  Buy now while prices are low and reap the benefits in the future!

I expect the same or higher figures for the fourth quarter both nationwide and locally.

Economists expect prices to continue to fall through at least mid 2012.  This is due to the continued oversupply of houses available due to the huge number of distress and foreclosed properties.  See the full article here.

The article is based on 20 cities but is a good representation of the entire country.