MBA economist testifies before Senate committee - Bills.com News

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MBA economist testifies before Senate committee

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009
By Lance Piper

Recently, an economist from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) testified before a Senate committee regarding the state of the housing market in the country.

During his testimony, Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the MBA, noted the housing market has benefited from the large amount of people seeking mortgage refinancing and a stabilization of home prices. However, he said the number of jobs lost through during the recession has put a greatstrain on the economy, especially the housing market.

"Unfortunately, the consensus is that unemployment will continue to get worse through the middle of next year before it slowly begins to improve," Brinkmann said.

Brinkmann noted that unlike in past recessions, the housing market was already weak when the economy began to falter. A number of factors, including adjustable rate mortgages and a sudden decrease in demand, already put a strain on the housing market before the recession.

According to the most recent numbers from RealtyTrac, the
number of foreclosure filings in the country increased by 5 percent during the third quarter of 2009, an amount that represents a 23 percent increase over the third quarter of 2008.

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