Milwaukee has been a pretty steady market, where appreciation has moved pretty close to income. Risk is concentrated on the coasts.
People often ask us, 'How should I take all this?' We'd just counsel prudence at this point. This is a good time for people not to stretch in what (Federal Reserve Chairman Alan) Greenspan calls exotic mortgages.
We're concerned for borrowers because they may not fully understand what may happen. In three or five years, we may be in a different credit cycle and they may not be able to refinance as easily as they expected.
When (home-price) appreciation gets too far away from income, you are more likely to see a decline in home prices.
When one or more of those gets out of balance, that's when risk tends to go up.
