The Regional Multiple Listing Service report for December, and the end of the year is out. With this report we can leave 2009 in the books.
Summary and characterization of the last 2½ years:
1. August 6, 2007: The Shot Heard Round The World. Seemingly overnight, American Home Mortgage, one of the largest mortgage companies in the US, closes its doors, /wp-content/uploads/ for bankruptcy, and leaves thousands of pending loans abandoned.
2. 2007 August- December: Shock and awe: what is happening? Is the sky falling?
3. 2008: The housing industry, with the economy in tow, is braking and skidding, and then crashes as all of the nation’s investment banks are wrecked by the end of the year. Financial paralysis closes out 2008.
4. 2009: The heavily burdened train leaves the station, moving down the tracks in the right direction but chugging oh so slowly. While the market is in recovery and sales numbers are increasing each month, prices also drop dramatically as short sales, foreclosures, and worn