Housing Market Named AP’s Top Business Story of ‘06

The nation’s housing market boomed hard for the first half of the decade, but all that ended with a thud in 2006.

In leaving just about everyone - from the newfound condo flippers and investors to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke - waiting to see what would transpire next, the real estate market earned the Associated Press designation of the year’s top business story.

The sudden stall in home construction, along with home sales and prices - and whether that will ultimately translate to a sluggish economy - was voted the top business story of the year by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by the AP.

At the housing market’s peak, buyers rushed to open houses, blank checks in hand. Lenders issued huge home mortgages to people who could barely afford their monthly payments. People were given home loans with little to no down payments and an assortment of credit problems.

But the bad credit mortgage frenzy ended in 2006, when foreclosures soared, home builders scuttled projects, developers walked away from land they’d hoped to develop, and would-be buyers canceled orders left and right.

What will happen in 2007? Analysts offer different viewpoints, but if you follow these simple pieces of financial advice, you’ll give yourself the best chance at making an investment that’s worthwhile!