Market Conditions:
Well, the latest news on the market is encouragingly mixed. That's probably the best way to describe it. In its latest monthly foreclosure/default report, Realty Trak yesterday announced that foreclosures are down 2% from a month ago. This is good news in the sense that it shows a drop in the figures moving forward. However, there are still many homes out there in various stages of default that could ultimately foreclose.

Separately, unemployment, though still at a high 9.7%, has improved. This is the second consecutive month at this level and below double digits, a sign possibly of the start of the recovery. In the same vein, employers have shown an increase in hiring of temp workers, which, after many months of a recession, is often a pre-cursor to a jobs recovery. What's particularly important in this case is that this is the third consecutive monthly increase, the first time that's happened since 2006. More jobs means more disposable income and more home buying ability, which bodes well in the long term for the housing market.