From what we have seen so far teh foreclosure activity is not significantly higher.

In Tucson the other numbers due mean quite a bit, with over 10,000 available listings in Tucson right now it is a buyers market. The number of foreclosures simply increase the number of available homes making it an even stronger buyers market.

Tucson has a very unique housing market on this country, it is one of the few places expecting to have over 33,000 boomers moving to Tucson every year for the next 10 years.

Tucson has a strong second home market. At almost any given time in Tucson there are a third of the homes vacant. Most of those are winter visitor second homes.

Also in Tucson many homes are sold on a “cash” basis. People retiring from either the West or East cost find our market very reasonably priced compared to where they are moving from and they often pay cash.

Tightening of the subprime lending practice is good for the market. People need to be able to actually afford to buy and make the payments on a monthly basis, in a timely manner to own a home.

Two things took place during the height of the booming market of 05 and 06 that in hind sight are turning out to be very good.

1. New Construction made buyers sign a contract that they would live in the home for at least one year before they sold the home. This limited the number of investors buying New Construction.

2. Many HOA’s passed rules saying you could not purchase a home as an investment, you could only buy if you planned on living in the home.

These two things stopped a lot of speculators from making purchases they could not afford.

Right now it is a buyers market and looks to remain such for at least the next year.

As to renters, most foreclosures won’t be for rent, many homes on the market won’t be for rent since they will be sold in the first 60 days on market. Others can’t afford to give up the tax benefits of ownership. As soon as they rent the home it is no longer a primary residence and they will have to pay capital gains on the home.

Again, expected foreclosure activity is not significant enough at this time or in the near future to impact the market as a whole.

The other numbers mean very little. With the tightening up of lending standards and the increases in foreclosures, there will be a hard ceiling on any housing appreciation.

This is not a buyers market or a sellers market, it’s a renter’s market.