I am hard at work studying for the Connecticut real estate licensing exam later this week. My course textbook, Modern Real Estate Practice, was published in 2006. Much has changed in the housing market in the intervening few years, and some of the concepts and words in the book are downright eerie.
"...by the end of year 2005," goes one sentence in the chapter called Home Ownership Concepts, "68.88 percent of households were homeowners." That worked out well, didn't it?
And then this: "However, real estate prices have risen, making it difficult for some buyers to save the down payment and closing costs needed to secure a conventional loan." Our representatives in Washington were all too aware of this, as was Countrywide Financial and other sub-prime lenders who helped start the fire and poured fuel on it.
And finally, this: "Because more homeowners mean more business opportunities, real estate and related industry groups have a vital interest in ensuring affordable housing for all segments of the population..."
One could add, with the benefit of hindsight,"...whether they can afford it or not." I hope that when the publishers update the textbook, they add some appropriately cautionary notes.