Former foreclosure expert sees ‘catfish recovery’ until 2014

Rick Sharga, former senior vice president at foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac, told attendees at a weekend real estate conference that the housing market hit bottom this year and that “we’re looking at a catfish recovery.”

Sharga, now an executive vice president with Carrington Mortgage Holdings, said the market would bounce along the bottom before starting to recover in 2014.

More than a million foreclosures that should have taken place this year have not yet been processed, delaying a resolution of the housing market’s problems into next year and beyond, Sharga said.

“We can’t expect to see home price appreciation until we work through these distressed assets,” Sharga said.