One of the things that is likely to hamper a housing market recovery from the subprime lending crash is the fact that fewer mortgage loans are being made right now. While it is a good thing that many people who shouldn’t be getting home mortgage loans are being told "no," there are some who should be getting mortgage loans, but aren’t. Dramatically increased credit score requirements, income requirements and other factors, including borrower anxiety, are contributing to the problem. Inman News reports on currency trends in home mortgage loans:

The upshot is that, just as many loans were
made during 2005 and 2006 that should not have been made, today there
are loans that should be made that aren’t. Further, the prices of all
deviations from underwriting perfection contain a "fright premium," and
are therefore priced higher than they ought to be. This is true even in
the conforming market, where Fannie and Freddie have raised the price
increments on borrowers with less-than-excellent credit.

In order for the recovery of our housing market to go forward, people need to start getting home mortgage loans again. In order to prevent another crash, those getting loans should only be those who can afford them.