While 2012 is poised to be a better year economically than 2011, it will not be worry free. Concerns over the European debt crisis as well as the future of the US economy will persist, keeping inflation at bay and interest rates at current levels. Finance charges incurred by consumers will therefore become neither more nor less costly in the coming year. But with mortgage rates staying at or near historic lows, single-family homes should remain easy to finance for a rising number of Americans.
Larry Downing/Reuters/File
