The housing market will never spring back to its pre-recession levels, at least that is what Gary Shilling, a Bloomberg View columnist, and president of Gary Shilling & Co., a consultancy in Springfield, New Jersey argued.
In an article in Bloomberg, Shilling said that housing activity remains weak despite six years of federal government aid, strong interest from overseas buyers, rock-bottom interest rates and massive purchases of mortgage bonds by the Federal Reserve.
Activity is weak even now that banks are no longer tightening mortgage-lending standards, according to a Fed survey. Banks are searching for new lines of business since the Dodd-Frank reform law and regulations are depriving them of revenue from proprietary trading, derivative origination and investing and off-balance sheet activities.
And this is just one area that the government is trying to revive
As you can see, the federal government is trying mightily to spur housing activity. But don’t expect this small but volatile sector to move the economic needle anytime soon, even as 30-year mortgage rates drop. The headwinds from consumer debt, high down payments, unforgiving credit-score standards and worries about another swoon in home prices are too strong.
