The nation's fragile housing market may start to stabilize after another year or two, reports the Wall Street Journal.
While gathered at the Mortgage Banker Associations annual conference, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Mark Zandi told industry leaders that a few minor tweaks, instead of a major industry overhaul, should be enough to stabilize the housing market.
"The key to home prices is the share of home sales that are distressed. A year, year-and-a-half down the road that share will start coming down (and) you get price stability and then price growth," Zandi said, according to the Journal.
Foreclosures are a major concern for the market's stability. Foreclosures can depress prices in the near term, but shrinking discounts for these distressed properties is a positive sign that housing demand may be improving, the paper says Zandi observed.
Texas currently has 10,148 foreclosure properties, the seventh highest in the country, reports RealtyTrac. The Houston real estate market has been hit especially hard with foreclosures. Harris County currently has 2,485 active foreclosures, which is one in every 794 housing units.
Courtesy of 2M Realty News