The disaster that struck the housing market two years ago continues to reverberate in Newton County.

It's evident in the rise in rental properties in the county as folks who are unable to sell their properties for what they're worth, or what they need to get out of them, put them up for rent. Many are turning into renters themselves as they rent out their homes and wait for the market to turn.

The U.S. Census reports a 78.6 percent increase in rental housing in Newton County in the past decade. You can read about it in Sunday's Covington News and online at covnews.com.

Market change is inevitable, but we feel the pain of these reluctant landlords. We, like them, await the time when the flood of foreclosed and short sale properties on the local market is dispensed with and real estate rebounds.

That rebound will play a key role in our local economy's recovery, and it can't come soon enough for us all.