Housing Market Shows Signs of Recovery

Posted by SooYeon(Pia),Shin

Housing market started to show signs of recovery. Sales in housing market have begun to increase. It is because mortgage rates hit the record of low and prices have fallen very much compared to this time in past years. Especially, the first-time home buyers are getting advantage of government incentives.

Carolyn Janik, an author and former real estate agent, developer and landlord, expected what would happen in the housing market.

Q. What changes do you see in home buying behavior?
A: People are getting smart and, now, carefully consider about buying a home. They look for house that they will live for a long time.

Q: What's going to happen to the residential real estate market?
A: “Prices have fallen, and they're going to stabilize (Janik).” When prices establish to stabilize, people can start to sell their four-bedroom houses in New Jersey and will look at South Jersey, where senior communities are around. Then, I believe the housing market will revitalize.

Q: What types of real estate should people avoid or stay away from?
A: People should stay away from condominiums which have been overbuilt, especially retirement communities. But, the houses that are to be resaled are the good ones, since the owners do not expect to get the same prices as the builders.

Q: And how about good buys?
A: Houses that are older than 10 years are good. Also, the multifamily houses are very good market right now. The reason why it is a good market is that those are not overbuilt.

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/614627
http://www.insideselfstorage.com/hotnews/housing-market-residential-recovery.html
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2009/04/coffee_break_housing_market_of.html

House Market on a Possible Rise

By Alcides Hoy Jr.

With the recent economic crisis everyone is giving up on spending. Yet it seems as if hope is being restored back into the housing market. Industry reports show that in February there was an increase in the sales of existing homes. This was strong recovery from January downhill housing market sales. I know many of you are asking it is time to jump back into the housing market? I cant say but I also cant say no by a long shot. This is definitely a time to retreat back into research mode and find about how the market is looking. Many of us wonder with the fluctuating market lately how could we put our trust back into the industry. Sales for the current month increased nearly six percent from its declining five percent in February. Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said there's a "good chance" the collapse in home sales that has been going on since September is "now over." There you have it folks a professional giving you some assurance that we might be able to gather our funds and gradually lean back into the housing market.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/23/real_estate/existing_home_sales/index.htm?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123781706899814483.html

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2009/3/23/existinghome_sales_increase_in_february.htm

Mortgage Rates Lowered to 4.5%

Jin Zheng

By Tami Luhby

Reducing mortgage rates to a historically low 4.5% may entice some homebuyers out of the shadows, but it won't be enough to really spur housing sales, experts said.

Only a week after the Federal Reserve unveiled a $600 billion plan to reduce mortgage rates, the Treasury Department is considering adding to the effort to lower rates even more. Both moves are intended to get more buyers into the market in hopes of stabilizing home prices and reviving the economy.

While Treasury officials are keeping mum about the latest proposal, lobbyists said Thursday it is aimed at reducing rates to 4.5% only for people buying homes. Those looking to refinance would not qualify.

There's no doubt, experts say, that the government needs to provide incentives to homebuyers.
Until now, all efforts were focused on addressing the record number of mortgage delinquencies. This should remain the priority, experts say, but it should be coupled with increasing demand for homes.

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Housing Market Predictions in 2009

Jin Zheng

By Elizabeth Rhodes

Summing up the 2008 housing market, Glenn Crellin, was succinct:

"Challenging at best," said the director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. "We clearly have a situation where consumers have exited the market, rightly or wrongly, on the presumption that housing prices are going to fall precipitously and they'll be able to get tremendous bargains if they wait."

Will they?

Truth be told, that's too simple a question. Too many things that affect housing are in play for there to be a simple answer. Foremost among them are the deepening recession, the condition of the mortgage market, and the new administration's plans to stimulate the economy.

Here's a look at what 2008 brought and 2009 may bring.

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