The mortgage markets have gone through some very interesting times lately. Have we seen the worst of it, yet? I guess that is to be determined. The involvement of the government to step in and bailout mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has gotten us one step closer to getting things back to normal. But we’ve only gone through the first wave of mortgage market fallout. There are tons of adjustable rate mortgages that are yet to reset. This mortgage fallout will likely spill over to other consumer debts, such as car loans and credit cards. Those who lost their homes, I would assume also maxed out their credit cards and lost their cars during that same process of losing their home. American Express has been put on a “watch list”. Some of these larger mortgage holders also have large credit card portfolios that will be at risk.

I think that the government’s bailout was the right thing to do. It gets everyone in the right mindset to work on repairing the mess that has been created. As long as the government allows the private sector to retain ultimate control, it will get us back to a sense of normalcy. The government’s involvement has helped lower mortgage rates and it will help keep mortgage rates down as the upswing continues in the real estate markets. We have seen some positive data come out of the real estate industry lately, helping to make us all feel good about the investments that we have made in real estate. For me, I can’t wait to see the consistent price increases month over month.

If you want to find out more, the Seattle Times did a decent story on the situation.