The Week in Review
....your Wilmington Connection
October 4, 2008
This week in Wilmington....welcome to the annual Riverfest.
Almost as soon as it began in October of 1979, Riverfest became the seasonal little sister to the Azalea Festival, which of course is held in the spring.
But Riverfest is far from little anymore, with multiple stages, nearly 200 food and craft vendors, a budget of $80,000 and, of course, the thousands and thousands of people it draws annually to downtown Wilmington. Many visitors from out of town realize that Wilmington is the ideal place to live with great year round temperatures and a lifestyle that many can only dream about.
What about home prices?
In theory, repairing the credit markets could lower mortgage rates and make loans more available for home buyers. That boost in demand could help pull the housing market out of its deepest recession since the 1930s.
But it won't help reduce the backlog of unsold homes - especially foreclosed, bank-owned homes that are being dumped on the market at fire-sale prices. Every time a bank sells a house cheaply to get it off their books, that price becomes the neighborhood's new market rate.
It's also harder for a lender to extend a loan for willing buyers in neighborhoods where home prices are still falling. That means buyers have to put up more money, reducing the number of eligible buyers.
Why isn't more being done to stop foreclosures?
Good question. Congress has been debating this issue for more than a year.
. ....until next week in The Week in Review
Tina
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