The turnaround in the Columbia SC housing market is spurring job growth, and expected to double the number of construction related jobs this year…
With job growth comes even more positive economic news in the Columbia SC housing industry, as interest rates to buy all those new homes has remained low, relative to a few years ago when rates were 5, 6 and 7 percent or higher.
We will stay on top of all the news affecting the Columbia SC housing market and pass news along to you here on our website. Check out the news section of articles under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right listed as Columbia SC Real Estate News. And as always, if you have any questions, sound off below.
Is Columbia SC housing turning a corner on the road to recovery? Home buyers, as well as those thinking of selling their home, are still wondering if Columbia SC housing really is recovering, or whether the market is just seeing a temporary bump that could still fall back in the short term.
CNBC recently interviewed Tanya Marchiol, CEO of Team Investments, and Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center of Real Estate and UC Berkeley, and here is what they had to say about the current housing market…
For more on the Columbia SC housing market, read our latest Columbia SC Real Estate News under the Columbia SC Real Estate Categories to your right.
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The Columbia SC housing recovery is expected to be the primary driver of the Columbia SC economy this year.
Homebuilding activity will likely remain the strongest growing component of the economy in 2013, followed by consumer spending, increased domestic energy production, and stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
Home sales rebounded to the strongest level in five years in 2012, as home building bounced back to levels not seen since early in the recession. Near record low mortgage rates, rising home prices and a drop in foreclosures have combined to bring buyers back to the Columbia SC housing market.
There’s a lot of pent-up demand for Columbia SC housing, and very little supply. As demand continues to improve, home builders have nothing to sell. They’ll have to build. Growth in building will mean adding not just construction jobs, but also manufacturing jobs building the appliances and furniture needed in the new homes, which in turn drives overall consumption higher.
Economists say the tight supply and renewed demand for Columbia SC housing should lead to higher home values — about a 3.7% increase is anticipated.
But even with the bullish outlook on Columbia SC housing, economists are still forecasting only a modest rise in the overall economy this year. The consensus estimate is for economic growth of about 2.4% in 2013, only a modest improvement from the 2012 growth rate of about 2% they’re forecasting when the final numbers are in.
The biggest concern economists have is a standoff on Capitol Hill. About three-quarters of those surveyed recently picked Congressional gridlock — which could result in a cutback in federal spending — as the biggest problem facing the U.S. economy.
What do you think? Do you think Columbia SC housing is going to be the leading driver of the Columbia SC economy this year? Or will another driver take control? We’d love to hear your opinion. Just leave your comment below.
Here’s a breakdown of why Columbia SC housing and housing nationwide has continued to decline this year:
Many homeowners are underwater: More than 10 million homeowners, including many who own Columbia SC housing, owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. Underwater owners aren’t likely to sell unless they need to move due to changing life (marriage, divorce) or financial circumstances, and they’ll take a hit on their credit for pursuing a short sale, where the bank allows the home to sell for less than the amount owed.
Everyone wants to buy at the bottom, but few want to sell: Even those people who do have plenty of home equity are likely reluctant to sell if they think prices will be higher next month. Would you sell your largest asset today if you thought it might be worth 5% more next year? This helps explain why markets such as Columbia SC, which has smaller shares of underwater borrowers, have also seen double-digit inventory declines.
Banks have been slower at foreclosing: Banks and other companies that process delinquent mortgages have had trouble proving that they’ve followed state law in taking title to homes ever since the “robo-signing” scandal surfaced in late 2010, and they’ve also had to meet a host of new state and federal rules governing loan modifications and foreclosures from settlements spawned by the robo-scandal. Banks have also become better about approving short sales and loan modifications, which has curbed the flow of foreclosed properties onto the market.
Builders have been building fewer homes: Columbia SC housing starts were severely depressed from 2009 through 2011 and have only recently rebounded off of those low levels. Consequently, there’s been much less new home inventory being added to the market at a time when demand (boosted by increases in household formation) is picking up. If more homes are held off the market — for any of the reasons stated here — you can bet that builders will move in to fill the void.
For 2012 as a whole, sales were up 9% to 4.65 million units, the highest annual total since 2007.
Prices, meanwhile, are picking up because the number of homes for sale continues to drop despite the sales volume gains. The number of homes for sale nationwide fell to 1.82 million at the end of 2012, an 8.5% drop from November and a 21.6% decline from one year earlier.
There are three reasons for optimism when it comes to Columbia SC housing. Liz Ann Sonders with Charles Schwab explains…
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