Is now the time to buy a home?

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Economists weighed in on the housing market, foreclosures and a potential rise in interest rates on CNBC this afternoon. Today’s positive jobs data should be good news, CNBC says, for the housing industry, with unemployment statistics reflecting directly on the number of mortgage delinquencies. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist, warns however, that the data should not been seen as a permanent growth pattern in the face of continued uncertainty.”We’ve got to keep in mind that while prices have come down a bit…all said and done, this is nothing like what happened between 2007 and 2009 when U.S. price fell in the order of 35 or 40 percent,” said Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics. The excess supply of homes is so large that prices will continue to fall. People may not want to buy for fear of catching a falling sword, said reporter Diana Olick, spurring the demand for rental properties.