The volume of distressed residential mortgage properties in the U.S. continues to remind the market that the fledgling recovery has yet to have a meaningful impact on the housing market. While our estimates for the time it will take to clear the supply of distressed homes on the market, or those that need to be liquidated and re-sold because previous borrowers defaulted, have declined after reaching a peak in mid-2008, the number has been on the rise again since fall of 2009. We estimate that the principal balance of these distressed homes amounts to about $460 billion, representing nearly one-third of the nonagency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) market currently outstanding. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services continues to monitor the impact
