Are we doomed to four more years of slow-motion foreclosures that wreck neighborhoods and destabilize home prices? Or will President Barack Obama finally tackle the housing mess head-on now that he has won a second term?

That’s the big question for the real estate industry in the aftermath of last Tuesday’s big win by Obama.

Yes, the president may very well dither away another four years with ineffective, half-hearted foreclosure prevention programs like the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that too often seem simply to delay the inevitable.

But there are signs that Obama may be ready to come to grips with the foreclosure tragedy, asking banks to take a haircut and write down troubled mortgages.

That may not make many bankers happy, but it could finally bring some stability to a market haunted by an overhang of empty foreclosure specials.

And by staunching the bleeding, it would certainly bring relief to array of Bay State cities, rural towns and even some suburbs buried under an avalanche of distressed properties.

Of course, trying to figure out either candidate’s stand on key real estate issues required lots of reading between the lines during this last presidential campaign.

Both Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney steered clear of any discussion or proposals related to the housing market – with foreclosures practically a taboo subject.

Frankly, there weren’t many political points to be gained for either side.

But each candidate offered up enough hints for an astute observer to get a general sense of their starkly different approaches to dealing with foreclosures.

Romney didn’t say much, but what he did say was telling, arguing that foreclosures should be allowed to take their course.

Basically, let the banks cut their losses and give the boot to the homeowners.

It’s cold, maybe even a bit heartless, yet there is some business sense to that – it would allow banks and the housing market to take the hit and move on.

But with Romney’s defeat, it’s rather academic whether a politician who made the flip-flop a new Olympic sport would have had the inner toughness to carry through with such a draconian solution.

Starkly Different Approaches

By contrast, Obama’s convincing, if not overwhelming victory last week gives him a second chance to take on an array of thorny issues he either neglected or fumbled in his first term, including housing and foreclosures.

But so far, the biggest clue to what Obama’s approach might be to dealing with the foreclosures mess in his second term came not from any statements made by the president.

Rather, it comes from signals his administration has been giving to housing activists.

And the message spreading around Washington, according to a recent report by The Financial Times, is that Edward DeMarco, acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is a goner in an Obama second term.

Big Haircut Ahead For Banks?

DeMarco’s reportedly impending demise as the FHFA chief may very well signal a shift in the Obama administration’s approach to the foreclosure crisis.

That’s because DeMarco has been targeted for removal because of his opposition to mortgage write-downs, prodding banks not just to lower interest rates, but wipe out part of the principal owed as well.

A number of economists, including Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, have been urging the Obama Administration to take this step.

It would accomplish the same goals as Romney’s turn-the-banks-loose proposal, but in a more humane and fair way.

The banking industry is hardly a fan – writing down those loans will hurt bottom lines and eat into profits at a time when the economy is still shaky.

But is it fair then to put the entire burden on individual homeowners, too often egged on into over-buying and over-borrowing during the bubble years by brokers, bankers and assorted housing market cheerleaders?

Obama can certainly be decisive when he chooses to – the bold and high-risk decision to take out Osama Bin Laden was obviously an example of that.

But he can also waffle with the best of them – as he has shown in his first term in basically punting on major housing issues.

Here’s hoping to see the bold Obama finally take a crack at resolving the housing mess.

Scott Van Voorhis can be reached at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com