The housing market is in for a long slog back up from the bottom, according to a new forecast out this afternoon from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group, which represents lenders and real estate finance firms across the country, issued its projections for 2010 and the years to come today. And they do not project a return to the high-flying days of years gone by any time soon.
In fact, they predict that the fourth quarter of 2009 may be the high-water mark for existing home sales for some time to come, as tax-credit-fueled bargain hunters snapped up homes at a healthy clip. But it’ll be at least 2013 before we see sales at that rate again, the MBA expects. (data is on an annualized basis; quarterly through 2010, then full year for 2011 and 2012). More
