Economic Recession May Be Finally Drawing to a Close

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Has the economy gone as low as it's going to go? Who the heck knows, even though everyone has an opinion. Most people I talk to say they think the worst is anything but behind us, and we have quite a way to go before we hit bottom.

Some smart economists see that type of talk as a signal that the worst is in fact behind us. Clearly unemployment looks as though it is going to climb for a while. Corporate profits (or losses) have morphed from depressing to scary. But this guy has a different view and let's hope he's right:

Nationwide, prices of new and existing homes are now only about 7% away from being as affordable as they were during the 1980s—when the housing market was booming. At that time, median home prices equaled 2.9 times median household incomes.

To put this in perspective, at the apex of the bubble back in 2006, median home prices sold for about 4.5 times median incomes...When combined with today's ultra-low mortgage rates, homes in many parts of the country may already be as affordable as they were in the halcyon days of the 1980s.

And for that reason, he posits we're headed for an up market. Hope he's right!

• Read more by Bonnie Erbe.
• Read more from the Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
• Read more about the recession.