So How Much Did We Spend to Stimulate the Housing Market?

Doesn't matter how much. Didn't do a damn bit of good. U.S. Foreclosures to Reach 3.9 Million in Second Record Year - BusinessWeek That is up from the previous record (set in 2008) of 3.2 million foreclosures.

"We are a long way from a recovery," John Quigley, economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview. "You can't start to see improvement in the housing market until after unemployment peaks."

Yah think?

In Florida, the situation is even worse than elsewhere. (With the exception of California.)

After trending downward for the last six months, foreclosures in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties shot back to a level not seen since July.

Florida retook 2nd place in the Foreclosure derby behind California (on a per capita basis).

McCabe, one of the first real estate consultants to warn of the housing bust, has been predicting for months about a second wave set to flood the market starting in the late months of this year.

Feeding the new wave, experts say, will be homes held up by banks who have not wanted to take possession to avoid maintenance costs or have them on their balance sheets. Lenders also have been modifying mortgages to help a struggling homeowner but not writing down the bloated principal amount, leaving the borrower to default once again.

Short sales are difficult and frustrating so that even cash buyers don't want to see them.

I wonder how many people who ran out to buy a home for an 8000 credit (that they will have to pay back) will end up in foreclosure.

And just because the President was humming "Happy Days Are Here Again" when the unemployment rate DROPPED to 10 percent, doesn't mean that happy days are here again.