I think there are a number of things at play here. One is a lot of people were burned in the housing market over the last few years. People now realize that housing prices can go down as well as up, and that’s made some of them uneasy about buying. Some of the newly-formed households – young people graduating from college are finally moving out of their parents’ basements – are finding that their jobs are too low to buy houses at today’s prices, even though mortgage rates are low. And it’s particularly hard for first- time homebuyers and anybody who has less than a stellar credit record to get a mortgage. It’s getting a little easier, but that’s still a big obstacle.
