Without needing a downpayment, with stated income programs and with post depression era interest rates many people have been able to buy homes that they could only have dreamt of. But, with the tightening up of the banking industry, this has become less feasible in the last few months. That means there are even less potential buyers for a given property than there were before. That leads most people to believe that a loosening up of the bank's underwriting parameters will allow more people to buy. But I think that an increase in rents will be the next major catalyst. This will happen because of the recent foreclosure surge alongside of a growing shortage of rental units








