Real Estate Investment:Waiting for a housing turnaround? Job losses have to stop first

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More than 660,000 U.S. residents lost their jobs in March. That means that more than 5.1 million U.S. residents have lost their jobs since the recession began. It also means that our country’s unemployment rate is now a far too high 8.5 percent.

You can read about the dismal statistics here, in this story in the New York Times.

At the same time we’re all waiting for unemployment numbers to go down, we’re also eagerly anticipating signs — any signs — of a recovery in the U.S. housing market. There are many, many homeowners today holding onto a residence that is no longer worth what they paid for it. These folks — and anyone trying to sell a home today — are looking for housing prices to begin rising once again, and for sales to begin increasing.

Problem is, it’s hard to imagine the housing market beginning its recovery when so many people are either out of work or are worried about losing their jobs.

I mean, how do you go out, apply for a mortgage loan and buy a house if you’re not sure you’ll still have a job next month?

For years, U.S. residents relied on the housing market, and rising home prices, to fuel an unrealistic economic expansion. Those heady boom days, though, are long gone. Today, we’re suffering through a painful, but needed, economic correction.

Looking for housing prices to rise again? Wait until fewer people fear for their jobs.

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