There are not many in the mortgage or real estate industry that would say 2007 was a good year. Many, myself included, could not see this year end any sooner. 2007 brought a complete collapse of the mortgage industry with over 200 major lenders nationwide "tapping out" for good.

Guidelines have reverted back to the early 90's and 100% financing is almost a fading memory even with full documentation! 2007 was a culmination of an industry, the mortgage market, that simply lost all rationality and is now paying the price for their mistakes.

This storm will continue through at least the first quarter of 2008 and will more than likely continue for the most of 2008 as more and more homes are dumped on the market due to increasing foreclosures creating the perfect buying opportunity for buyers.

There will be a turnaround it always does. When the turnaround occurs is anybody's guess. The silver lining to this storm is that interest rates should decline in 2008 and prices will also fall setting us up for a perfect buyers market.

Hopefully the mortgage industry will learn from this disaster and will not repeat the same mistakes which have gotten us to this point.

I hope you all have a prosperous and a happy New Year!