A foreclosure backlog could slow the Columbia SC housing recovery. All states are not backed up with foreclosures in waiting, some are, some aren't. This backlog, coupled with the continued problem of homeowners being underwater on their mortgage, could mean the housing uptick we've seen over the past year could be confronted with a slowdown.
The Columbia SC housing recovery continues to also be hampered by record low inventory of homes on the market for sale. Many sellers are either holding out for higher prices later, or, as mentioned before, are dealing with mortgages that are still underwater because values fell so far during the previous real estate bust.
We have more news and articles as they relate to the Columbia SC housing situation at our Columbia SC Real Estate News category to your right under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
Columbia SC housing, 
as well as a forecast for the nation’s housing and economic outlook was presented recently by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) during their 2012 Realtors Conference and Expo.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says he expects the market share of distressed sales to fall from about 25 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2014.
Mark Vitner, managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo, one of the speakers at the NAR conference, compared distressed homes to an after-Christmas sale. Vitner stated, “most of the best stuff has been picked over, but make no mistake they’ll be with us for a while.”
Columbia SC Housing Recovery Expected to Continue
The Columbia SC housing recovery is expected to continue so long as credit does not further tighten and a fiscal cliff is avoided.
The rise in home prices should also stay. Yun predicted a 6 percent rise in the median existing-home price in 2012, with another 5.1 percent increase next year and comparable gains in 2014.
Existing-home sales are projected to move higher year-after-year: a 9 percent increase this year to 4.64 million, 5.05 million in 2013, and 5.3 million in 2014.
Mortgage interest rates are expected to eventually increase to an average of 4 percent next year, and inflationary pressure should cause rates to go up to 4.6 percent in 2014, according to the NAR forecast.
Yun added, “While we’re hopeful that something can be accomplished, the alternative would be a likely recession, so automatic spending cuts and tax increases need to be addressed quickly.”
The state of the housing market continues to improve though recovery remains “fragile,” according to the October Housing Scorecard released by the Obama administration. Signs of improvement include rising home prices, rising home sales, and ongoing efforts through the Making Home Affordable Program.
Bookmark our site and we’ll keep you up to date on all the trends affecting Columbia SC housing going forward into 2013 and 2014. Good or bad, we’ll bring it to you here.
Everyone’s trying to figure out whether the housing recovery we are seeing now is for real, or if it’s just another one of those blips on the radar like we saw in 2010.
Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Case-Shiller index, discussed the state of the housing market recently on Fox Business News. Here’s what he had to say…
Whether this particular up-tick in the housing recovery is real, or just another blip, remains to be seen… but as Mr. Shiller pointed out in the interview, this time, the housing recovery is developing without any Federal intervention.
Shiller also mentioned a few clouds on the horizon when it comes to a housing recovery. Some of those clouds he referred to are the problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which is propping up the housing market and supported by the government.
He also made reference to the key macro issues like the eurozone crisis, the slowdown in Asia, and the oncoming fiscal cliff in the U.S.
What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear your opinion on this topic. Do you think this Columbia SC housing recovery is real, or just another temporary tick before things start falling again?
From peak levels five years ago, home prices are down more than 30 percent, combined sales of new and existing homes are nearly 40 percent lower, and new home construction has plunged more than 70 percent.
However, several factors are falling into place that will support gradual progress in the coming year as long as the economy doesn’t tip back into recession.
Most important, analysts increasingly believe that 2011 will mark the bottom in home prices. Most national price indexes adjusted for seasonal influences have stopped falling on a month-to-month basis.
The demand side of the housing outlook is somewhat of a paradox. Attractive home prices and super-low mortgage rates have made homes the most affordable in the postwar period. Yet, demand continues to languish. Sales of existing homes were up in October and have mostly bounced around the current level this year. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says that despite historic affordability and more credit-worthy borrowers, the share of contract failures is double that in October 2010. Cancellations last month were reported by 18 percent of NAR members, says Yun, up from 9 percent last year.
Tight loan standards and weak job markets in recent years have sharply reduced people’s willingness and ability to start a household, which continues to weigh heavily on home demand. Since 2006, the rate of household formation has slowed dramatically. The current number of U.S. households is about 4.9 million below what the trend prior to the recession would have predicted.
The Barclays outlook expects prices to end 2011 close to 2 percent below a year ago and then increase modestly by about 1.5 percent in 2012. Those projections are similar to most, but with one key assumption: The U.S. doesn’t relapse into a recession, caused by the failure of policymakers in Europe to prevent a full-blown financial crisis or by actions of U.S. policymakers that would impose excessive budget tightening next year. In a recession scenario, the analysts project an additional 7 percent drop in house prices, accompanied by a 12 percent jobless rate.
Barring that, 2012 is set to be the first year of the housing recovery, but it may not feel like one until mortgage restrictions ease and the labor markets are strong enough to offer more support.