MARIETTA - Sen. Johnny Isakson spoke to the Cobb Association of Realtors Thursday about the future of the nation's housing economy. But even though December's new housing permit numbers from Cobb offer a glimmer of hope with a substantial growth over November's numbers, Isakson warned that the nation's housing market still has a long way to go.

Cobb issued 59 new housing permits during the month of December, which is a 21-permit jump from November's 38. This is not only the largest month-to-month gain for the year, but December also had the largest number of new housing permits for all of 2009.

Fifty of those came from unincorporated Cobb, while six came from Smyrna and three came from Acworth. Powder Springs, Austell, Kennesaw and Marietta did not issue any new permits in December.

December 2008, however, told a different story. Only eight permits were issued a year ago, as the market took a major downturn.

Cobb County spokesman Robert Quigley said that the large number of permits are not due to the flood damage many homes incurred in September as those homes generally require permits not related to new housing.

For the year, a total of 406 permits were issued in 2009. In 2008, there was a total of 707 permits issued among the county and its six cities, which shows an overall drop in the year-to-year numbers. But the difference of roughly 300 permits is not nearly as startling as 2004's total of 5,720 permits for the year.

The number of building permits has steadily declined since a peak in 2004, when the county saw 5,720 permits. In 2005 there were 5,184 permits, in 2006 there were 3,716 and in 2007 there were 1,935.

But the market still has a long way to go, Isakson said.

"I think foreclosures may actually be up this year, as we have a 10 percent unemployment rate and these people will have been unemployed for a long period of time," Isakson said. "In the meantime, values are plummeting and people are owing more on their house than they could get for it. But I think this year will be the beginning of a gradual improvement."

Isaskson, a Marietta resident and former Cobb realtor, also said that he does not believe the federal housing tax credits will be extended again after the program ends in June.

"It's too costly, and it loses its effect when people think it will always be there," Isakson said.

Isakson called the federal housing and urban development appraisal regulations a "disaster," as homes are often appraised far below their actual values. The Senator blames Wall Street for the housing collapse, saying: "There was no accountability, no transparency and no one looking at what they were doing. They certainly need some sunshine."

Isakson also said that the fact that very few in Congress have worked as businessmen in the private sector causes problems when trying to come together on business-related regulations.

"I was happy to have the opportunity to hear from an actual Senator about what he thinks is going on and what is happening in D.C. to make things change," Erin Etheredge, a Cobb County realtor with Atlanta Communities, said after Isakson's speech. "I appreciated it even more to know it was coming from a former businessman's perspective, especially from someone who has a very good reputation in the Cobb real estate industry."

Etheredge said she expects more people to put their homes up for sale in the next few weeks as families sometimes like to move in the spring, and that she has seen a slight resurgence in the market since the end of 2009. "There are many problems facing us that Isakson pointed out, such as with short sales, foreclosures and the ten percent unemployment rate, and this greatly hurts our market but we also know, and hope, that things will eventually turn around."