Milwaukee has been a pretty steady market, where appreciation has moved pretty close to income. Risk is concentrated on the coasts. |
People often ask us, 'How should I take all this?' We'd just counsel prudence at this point. This is a good time for people not to stretch in what (Federal Reserve Chairman Alan) Greenspan calls exotic mortgages. |
There's no scheduled return date. |
We're concerned for borrowers because they may not fully understand what may happen. In three or five years, we may be in a different credit cycle and they may not be able to refinance as easily as they expected. |
When (home-price) appreciation gets too far away from income, you are more likely to see a decline in home prices. |
When one or more of those gets out of balance, that's when risk tends to go up. |
You really can't have a situation where something as basic as home prices gets that far away from economic fundamentals for that long a period of time. It's just not sustainable. |