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?
A strong recovery appears to be starting for Columbia SC housing, according to a report released recently by Goldman Sachs Group.
Their report notes that Columbia SC housing has a “long list of positives,” including rising prices, job growth, supportive government policies and a decline in the so-called shadow inventory of homes.
Sachs reported, “The super cyclical housing market has turned and a strong recovery in new-home sales is ahead.” One Sachs analyst wrote, “Over the last year a number of risks to the housing market have abated, giving us confidence that rising home prices will drive a 3-7 year up-cycle in the U.S. market.”
The report went on to note, “the U.S. economy has created enough jobs since the end of the recession in 2009 to fuel new-home sales at an annual rate of 550,000 to 600,000. New houses sold at a pace of 369,000 in May, the highest rate since 2010, according to a Commerce Department report.
Government policies have improved in the past year by addressing supply instead of demand. Recent programs include the bulk sale of foreclosed single-family homes to investors who are converting them to rentals, and the expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which allows refinancing of properties worth less than their mortgages.
The Goldman Sachs report estimated new-home sales would reach 700,000 nationwide in 2014.
As for Columbia SC housing, we believe we have already seen the bottom, and the market is definitely showing signs of recovery.
Columbia SC housing and the 2012 election appear to be on a crash course, and we believe each candidate must address housing in order to be elected. We’re curious to know what you think.
Real estate media company, Trulia.com has combined their “Housing Misery Index” which combines price declines and the delinquency (plus foreclosures) rate and compared them to the current election predictions from RealClearPolitics, and made some interesting discoveries.
The company says that the statistics mashup revealed that Nevada, Florida, and Michigan are not only three of the five highest-misery states when it comes to housing, they are also swing states. Trulia says that a fourth state, Arizona, leans Romney, but could “still be in play.”
Additionally, Trulia reports that the toss-up states have more housing misery than states that are clearly in the Romney camp or Obama camp, with the only exception being California. Most of Romney territory avoided the worst of the housing crisis, the company notes.
Trulia adds that housing misery is spread across the different regions, with a high level of misery found in Michigan and Illinois in the Midwest, Georgia in the South, Maryland and New Jersey in the Mid-Atlantic, and Idaho, Washington, and Oregon in the Northwest. As California bucked political trends, Texas bucked the misery trend, escaping housing misery altogether. “Prices are no lower today than during the bubble, and relatively few homes are delinquent or in foreclosure,” the report notes.
Trulia says that “Housing markets, of course, are local. But so are presidential elections, which are fought in the handful of “swing states” that could conceivably go to either candidate. The election will be decided over the issues that matter most in swing states.”
Trulia’s Chief Economist, Dr. Jed Kolko says that “Even though the national housing market is clearly recovering, housing misery is concentrated in several swing states. The voters that will decide the election will want to hear about housing.”
Read the entire article from Trulia here.
What do you think? We’d really love to hear your opinion. Will the current state of the Columbia SC housing market play a factor in the 2012 election? Leave us your thoughts and opinions below.
A Columbia SC housing rebound appears to be fully underway. There was a significant increase in both housing starts and building permits locally last month, as well as nationwide.
On a national level, housing starts rose 6.9% in June to a 760,000 annual rate, the highest level in four years. That’s up an impressive 23.6% compared with a year earlier. Permits to build new homes fell slightly from revised May numbers to 755,000, but were up 19.3% compared with June 2011.
Columbia SC Housing – The Stark Reality
Columbia SC housing has seen many house hunters start out looking for existing homes in picture-perfect, move-in condition, only to be disappointed in what they found. Few of those homes are available because the owners are sitting on them. Many owners are just not selling now, forcing many would-be buyers to look to new construction to get what they want.
A separate release from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that builder confidence is at its highest level in five years.
Builder confidence increased by solid margins in every region of the country in July. “Views of current sales conditions, prospects for future sales and traffic of prospective buyers all improved,” said Barry Rutenberg, NAHB’s chairman.
With home building numbers on the rise and prices solidifying, the Columbia SC housing market should start contributing to national economic growth for the first time since 2007. The contribution will be even larger next year as home building continues to increase, foreclosures work their way off the market, and prices see more consistent gains.
If you’re ready to dive into the Columbia SC housing market, make sure you don’t do it without the expertise of your own agent. Contact us for more information about Columbia SC housing and some of the pros and cons of buying now.
Columbia SC housing, although improving, will certainly see more clarity as we move through the summer and fall buying seasons and into 2013.
If you’re even remotely considering buying a Columbia SC home, or a home in any of the many areas we serve, contact us right away before home prices increase even more, and available inventory is further reduced. These trending home indicators will only make buying Columbia SC housing even more expensive, the longer you wait.