'Long way to go' for US housing market recovery

A recovery for the US housing market is still a long way off, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Mark Zandi has claimed.

He told Reuters that he does not anticipate house prices in the country rising until the end of next year at the earliest, with further falls to come in the meantime.

Mr Zandi explained that the number of distressed sales taking place has begun to fall - but this is due to buyers picking up foreclosures and short sales on the market, as well as issues with claims and foreclosure processing.

"I'm expecting the process to reaccelerate as we work through the foreclosure issues and we work through some of these legal actions," he asserted.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, with Mr Zandi telling the news provider that the percentage of property owners who are behind on their mortgage payments by 30 days is decreasing.

According to the Freddie Mac US Economic and Housing Market Outlook published earlier this month, advances made in house sales are being pulled back by falling consumer confidence.

Vice-president and chief economist at the organisation Frank Nothaft predicted that the housing market will experience a "gradual but substantive improvement" over the coming 12 months.
 

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