Also, we see the much lower than historically normal dividend as a negative factor in our analysis, and a return to more normal levels would be greeted positively by our methodology.

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The new normal is more of the same: a mixed bag of positive and negative news and data, with the negative outweighing the positive on balance.

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In our view, returning to a more normal proportion of distressed sales will take several years, given the large number of borrowers with negative equity, the large current delinquency and foreclosure inventory, and the long current foreclosure timelines.

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