A growing number of the 7 million former home owners who lost their home

either to foreclosure or short sales can’t shake the homeownership bug, Now that the housing sector is recovering, many of these “Boomerang Buyers” are back in the market but many are failing to get financing.

Since the housing bubble burst, some 4.8 million borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure, and another 2.2 million gave them up in short sales, according to RealtyTrac. While many are still struggling to recover financially, a growing number are starting to bounce back — and they are looking for a new place to call home, according to the Realtors Confidence Index from the National /Association of Realtors.

Homeowners who had experienced a foreclosure or short sale are starting to return as homeowners, although access to financing is posing a constraint.

?About 23 percent of respondents reported working with a buyer who previously experienced a foreclosure or short sale since 2005.

?About 46 percent of responding Realtors reported that these buyers they worked with could not obtain mortgage financing.

?In reference to these buyers who did not obtain mortgage financing, 65 percent of respondents reported that the reason was related to the previous foreclosure or short sale.

For those resigned to renting the options are better than they were when they lost their home. Single family rentals comprise some 28 percent of all rental units, according to the Census Bureau.