The Question Is How Fast

Foreclosure Recovery May Take Time
On this date, certainly one of our nation’s most startling, it feels appropriate to pause for a moment. Of course, images of the World Trade Center naturally follow. Given what the country went through eight years ago and what the country has been through since that day, a certain parallel seems to have appeared.

Practically as soon as the buildings fell, both local and national politicians all agreed (as did World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein) that the site should be rebuilt in some way, hopefully featuring another skyscraper. The energy and enthusiasm was palpable, and one gathered the sense that America as a whole needed to see the rebuilding occur.

Still, progress was not easy nor was it as immediate as most people had hoped. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s architecture firm proposed six ideas in 2002, and all were received poorly by area New Yorkers. Subsequently, many firms ended up taking part in a collaborative effort, and construction on six new buildings, a memorial and an arts center finally began between 2006-2009.

Uvestor Opportunity:
There has been much debate all summer about whether real estate signs are pointing toward recovery or an even lower bottom. Through a combination of buck passing, carelessness and miscalculation, the U.S. real estate market toppled in a figurative sense.

Now, everyone wants prices to bounce back immediately to the halcyon days of several years ago. As ambitious and energetic as investors are, though, the process still will take time.

There will be wrangling over how to do make the market recover. There will be arguments over how many foreclosures are healthy and how many are toxic. The same is true of government assistance. Nevertheless, over time, the recovery will come. Slowly and steadily, it will come.