The Government needs to stay out of this. Any help will only postpone the natural cycle of the housing market.
1 foreclosure in your neighborhood is not going to drop everyones house 10k. The only way that would happen is if foreclosures become the predominant force in the area. If that is the case than nobody can guess how much it will be. Some may be less than 10k some may be way more than 10k. If you aren't planning on selling anytime soon or have your house paid off than don't worry too much about it. Remember what goes up must come down.
To those thinking that now is the time to buy. Consider your market and tap all resources for information. Before buying YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR MARKET! Has my market begun depreciating? No, there are still some that haven't. How long will my market depreciate. That would suck to buy a house that right now is a good deal but continues to depreciate for another 2 years. There is much gloom and doom being predicted at this time. Some fees that the recession will hit full bore in 2008. New projections are estimating that housing market will not begin to rebound until 2011. Again markets vary but this is very scary.
Lastly, those that think you will not be affected by this you are dead wrong. I think we have yet to see the worst this will create for us all. I hope I am wrong though. This same subject has been discussed tons. For more information go to
www.appraisersforum.com