The recent news that pretty much trumped all financial news (real estate related or otherwise) was the historic government bailout designed to address the economy, save banks and, among other things, fix the housing market by getting people interested in markets like Palm Beach real estate again.

This bailout has divided many people with some lambasting the decision and others praising it as an unwanted, albeit necessary measure to keep the economy from getting worse.  While the bailout is designed to address multiple components affecting the country, some experts don’t think it will do very much to get people interested in buying Palm Beach condos again.

Current figures show that thirty year mortgage rates remain high and therefore prevent most people from being able to afford the monthly payments and that’s on top of how hard it is to actually get approved for a mortgage in the first place.  In order to get the ball rolling on home buying again, real estate experts believe the government should begin by lowering these rates.

Rates have dropped considerably but they’re still not to the point where people can afford them on top of all the other costs that go into buying a home.  If the government were to assist buyers with a down payment up to a certain point, it would take out one of the major roadblocks and increase the number of people buying Palm Beach homes.

Other suggestions have already been implemented, namely the Hope the Homeowners plan which will allow thousands of homeowners stuck with adjustable rate and subprime mortgages to refinance.

The bailout is still in its early stages and many of these economic and housing solutions haven’t really begun to show their results but as 2008 comes to a close, the effects on whether they’ll sway Americans into buying real estate again will show in the numbers.