At least 3 more years of housing troubles seen

Interest rates on 30-year fixed rate loans will creep up to 5 percent, and that alone will add $120 per month to the typical mortgage payment on a $400,000 loan, Flint said in a joint news conference.

The two firms released a survey showing a marked deterioration in consumers' views of the housing market, too. Almost half -- 48 percent -- said they'd consider walking away from their homes and their mortgages if they were underwater on their loans. That's up almost 20 percent from when the same question was asked in May. "If that continues it would be an epidemic of strategic defaults," said Flint.