Sure, the economy is coming back...
With mortgage rates beginning to increase again, the real estate market may not be able to lead the so-called recovery any more. And mortgage delinquencies are on the rise again according to this SF Chronicle story:
Mortgage delinquencies, which measure the number of borrowers late on their payments by 30 days or more, rose from 4.52 percent in the first three months of the year to 4.62 percent in the second quarter. In the growing sub-prime category, which serves consumers with lower credit scores, mortgage defaults jumped to 12.99 percent from 12.4 percent.
...As a result, Duncan said the total number of loans in foreclosure may increase for the current quarter. Of the 34 million or so loans in the MBA survey, 1.12 percent were entangled in foreclosure in the second quarter, down from the peak 1.20 percent last quarter and 1.13 percent in the second quarter of 2002.