Five years ago, practically anyone could get a mortgage and no one believed real estate prices would ever stop rising. Now, hardly anyone can get a mortgage and no one knows when home prices will stop falling.
It’s gotten so bad that for many young couples a key element of the American dream — buying a home of their own — has been put on hold in favor of renting. It just makes more financial sense right now.
“Not too long ago rent used to be a four letter word,†said Mike Larsen, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research.
Not any more.
That point was emphasized again on Tuesday when a much-watched housing report showed home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped in March to their lowest level in eight years, marking what many economists are calling a “double dip†in the embattled housing market.
