The following positive trends below have been associated with the housing market recovering and possibly our economy coming out of the current state that it is in. Alternatively, there are also negative trends that are still occurring, confirming the current state of the economy.  Here are some of the positives and negatives of the current market and the trends that may lead to recovery or validating the current situation.  “The uncertainty is pulling buyers in every direction,” Jim Wasserman of the Sacramento Bee.   This article has been supplied by Jim Wasserman and the Sacramento Bee, Sac Bee:On the positive side:• The most inexpensive home prices in nearly a decade have combined with historic low mortgage rates and two new homebuyer tax credits to drive sales.• The inventory of existing homes for sale has fallen by half in the past 19 months. And builders have largely stopped adding to supply as first-time buyers and investors alike snap up bank-repossessed homes.“That’s key if the inventory is going down. It means you’re getting rid of the excess,” said economist Patrick Newport of Massachusetts-based IHS Global Insight, a financial forecaster.Prices are eroding more slowly now in Washoe County. And for the past three months, they’ve even stabilized in some parts of California.• Temporarily, at least, the number of foreclosed homes coming to market has declined.  That’s the number of months it would take to sell all at current sales rates.On the negative side:• Notices of default – the first warnings lenders issue after homeowners have missed several payments – have spiked. Though banks may find alternatives to foreclosures, a new wave of repossessions would push the real estate market deeper into a tailspin and drive down prices. Reports this week said banks are accelerating foreclosures.• Banks are holding a “shadow inventory” of repossessed homes off the market. No one knows exactly how many there are or how quickly they will be listed.• The economy is still shedding jobs, a key contributor to people falling behind on mortgage payments. Overall, the contradictions in the area’s housing landscape appear much like the larger U.S. economy, with the stock market gaining at the same time major automakers face bankruptcy. 

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