While there were real fears of a Double Dip in the US economy or, worse, of a Japanese-style scenario in the summer, following the announcement of GDP well below expectations, these fears appear to have receded thanks to a more stable US real estate market.
In effect, with the number of home sales up 4.3% in August and 9.95% in September 2010, the real estate crisis seems to have tamed, at least for the time being. These figures are especially important given that the crisis began with the collapse in sub-primes and the slump in real estate prices in 2007. Recovery was all the more difficult with the subsequent economic downturn that affected millions of Americans. As the spectre of unemployment appeared as a sword of Damocles ready to fall on anyone at any moment, householders found it hard to get loans to buy new homes.
Economists are therefore upbeat about this apparent stability, which could simply be the result of the momentum created by the government at the beginning of 2010 when it offered new home owners an 8000$ tax rebate.