Greg Snow - Southwest Florida Real Estate Expert provides real estate services to Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Islands

 Reading newspapers in today's society sometimes is only done at airports, bathrooms, or while waiting for a doctor's appointment. This morning, I happen to glance at our local paper, the News-Press had a front page story on forgetting the American Dream, which is home ownership. "A survey from the National Foundation Credit Counseling was released showing that almost 50% of all American adults no longer view home ownership as a reliable way to build wealth and 31% don't expect to ever be able to own a home". The crash of our real estate market in Lee County was easily one of the harshest in the U.S.A, and many people who have gone through foreclosure or a short sale will have limited opportunites in the near future because their credit probably took a 100-250 point drop. Many people now rent, and up to now, have probably been paying less than their previous mortgage cost them. Demand for rental housing will increase which will drive up rates in the near future, but for the moment our rental inventory is large, many of these are foreclosures bought by investors to lease out. Is the pain and agony of our fall from exuberence going to last more than a few more years? I sure hope that the answer is a definite NO...:)