Valley housing market forecast

Market forecast

Most market watchers don't think Valley housing has hit bottom, but they view the current corrections in the market as good steps toward recovery.


• "Foreclosures are going to keep climbing," said Margie O'Campo de Castillo of Arizona Dream Realty. "Many people, particularly in new homes on the fringes, are upside down in their home. They owe more than it's worth and can't sell."


• "Some homeowners will get a break from the Feds lowering rates," said Jay Butler, director of realty studies at Arizona State University's Morrison School. "That will help keep the reset on their adjustable rate mortgages lower."


• "The mortgage market is getting back to normal. The crazy financing of a few years ago is gone," said Jay Luber, First Horizon Home Loans of Phoenix vice president. "People with good credit and incomes will still be able to qualify for mortgages."


• "If you can afford to make the payments on your home, stay put," said Nicholas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. "Prices are sticky now."