In all of the palaver over the potential extension of the first time home buyer's tax credit program, the cash for clunkers program, and so on, the one thing that does not seem to be getting any attention is the fact that unemployment is still climbing and climbing. The talking heads on TV and elsewhere are making much of the status of the housing market and whether it has "hit bottom" or whether it's "rebounding".

I'm afraid the sad fact that we are about to discover is that, as soon as the tax credit for first time buyers ends on November 30, and probably even before, housing sales are going to drop to seasonally adjusted lows. This time of the year, sales usually drop off anyway as the holiday season approaches, but without some artificial stimulus and unemployment still climbing, sales are going to fall flat.

Anyone who is not independently wealthy has to, at least, pause and ask themselves if they are confident enough in their source of income, read job, to sign a 30 year mortgage and buy property. Not to mention that, without employment, nobody will be able to come up with a down-payment. Tightening credit requirements and credit card companies lowering limits, screwing up even good customers FICO scores, make it not really matter anymore if rates are low. Rates can be zero and if  nobody can qualify for a mortgage because they don't have a job, or they do have a job and their credit scores have been artificially lowered, or they don't have an adequate down-payment, then the real estate market is not going to "rebound".

Let's face it folks.... A lot of people are scared out there and maybe they should be.