Any idea what will happen to housing prices due to all this

[Wesley_Clark]

@Omar_Little

I don’t expect that in the US you will see a housing price decline in general. You may begin to see the number of days houses are on the market lengthen, and you may see the rate of appreciation slow. You may also begin to see housing prices in certain segments in various regions ($50k - $100k in a particular location) see some declines. But I do not expect the overall market to decline like what was seen in 2008-2009.

Won’t we see lots of houses enter the market due to unemployment but nobody wants to buy them?

[Omar_Little]

@Wesley_Clark

Won’t we see lots of houses enter the market due to unemployment but nobody wants to buy them?

I don’t expect that the unemployment rates will stay at these higher levels for extended periods of time. The government safety nets and the stimulus package should bridge most of that impact. Again, you might see some impact at lower ranges of houses, that are driven by prolonged unemployment in certain sectors of the economy. But not like we saw in 2008-09.