Bleak Home Forecast Until 2010

San Francisco Chronicle (03/28/08); Geewax, Marilyn
Speaking at the National Economists Club on March 27, Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft said he does not expect home prices to climb until 2010. He also noted that another year of rising foreclosures will dramatically lengthen the amount of time that properties spend on the market, which already has doubled to four months as of September 2007 from two months in September 2005. Freddie Mac data indicates a 29-percent drop in nationwide home sales since 2005, with declines surpassing 40 percent in California, Florida and Nevada; Nothaft added that home prices decreased in 46 states in the 2007 fourth quarter. However, he predicts the national economy will show signs of improvement in the second half of 2008, thanks to low interest rates and the federal economic stimulus package.