Dothan Real Estate - “New wave of mortgage failures could create a nightmare scenario”
November 26th, 2007 - Categories: Real Estate News
By: Charles Woodall
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
That is the title of the article in Section B of Saturday’s edition of The Dothan Eagle. The story is by business writer Joe Bel Bruno from the Associated Press, and the title used is a prime example of the media sensationalizing a story by printing a misleading headline. My question is this: Who chose the title? Now I will admit that my knowledge of how the news industry works is limited, but I have always been under the impression that on a wire story such as this, the local paper picking up the story writes their own headline. If that is the case, I would like to talk with whomever wrote this one. By the way, I found the same article on another website, and the headline used there is somewhat less pessimistic.
The headline chosen assumes that there will be another wave of mortgage failures coming. What is the likelihood of adjustable mortgage rates continuing to adjust upward if the Fed keeps dropping the Fed rate? Plus, I think we can be certain that some in Congress will push for legislation that could bail help out many adjustable rate mortgage holders that are primed to be in this new wave. I don’t like the use of the term “nightmare scenario” either. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this isn’t going to happen, but I believe we are entitled to a little more realism and a lot less sensationalism.
I have been monitoring the Legal Notices section of the paper to see if there has been an upward trend in foreclosure notices here in the Dothan area. There hasn’t been, yet. I am going to start relaying those numbers to you on a regular basis, and we’ll all see together how the Dothan real estate market is affected. If I had to venture a guess, there won’t be a new wave of foreclosures and thus no nightmare scenario for the Dothan economy, or the real estate market.