Subprime Mortgages: 2009 Housing Head Wind

With home prices having dropped a painful 21 percent from their 2006 peaks, property owners everywhere could use a splash of good news in their New Year's Eve cocktails. But as a nasty recession is now part of the picture, the chances of an aggressive housing market rebound next year are dim. "A lasting recovery in the housing market?" says Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research. "I don't see it in the cards until the back end of the year—if that."

Here's a look at the factors that will be weighing down the housing market in 2009:

9. Subprime Mortgages While resetting subprime mortgages may not be a leading factor behind the decline in home prices—as they were this year—such products will again be working against the housing market in 2009, Thornberg says. "There are still lots of subprime mortgages out there that are going to reset not just in 2009, but 2010 and 2011," he says. "And so that's going to be a consistent problem for a while, although it is probably reduced in magnitude [from 2008]."

The List
Recession
Unemployment
Consumer Confidence
The Underwater Effect
Tighter Credit
Household Formation
Radioactive Effect
Foreclosure Sales
Subprime Mortgages

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