Published on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
By Kevin Smith
A sweeping bailout package that gained House approval on Wednesday won't necessarily turn the nation's sagging housing market around.
But the legislation - designed to help some 400,000 struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure while pumping cash into ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - is a step in the right direction.
That's the assessment of Steve Johnson, who heads the Southland region of Metrostudy, a housing market research firm.
"I think it's the first step of many that we need to take," Johnson said. "It will resolve the wave of foreclosures that are continuing to bring home values down."
And that wave, he said, is far from over.
"I would say there are still tens of thousands more foreclosures coming in Southern California," he said. "I don't think we've bottomed out yet."
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