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| More rates and news from Are Things Looking Up For The Housing Market
(The slowing housing market has caused just about everyone to speculate about where it is headed in the near future. )
A variety of data has come in this week giving some pretty mixed reviews about the status of our housing market.
But The Los Angeles Times reported that things may be looking up for the housing market.
A December 1, 2006 article by Annette Haddad, “Optimism is rising on housing market,” discusses some of the recent findings that have given some economists and analysts a more positive outlook on our market.
Many are saying that we have already seen the worst for the housing market, and things should be looking up very soon.
There is a variety of different data that has started this new trend in more positive thinking on our current status.
One thing is that mortgage rates have fallen. Low mortgage rates have been historically known to stimulate the market and get people to start buying houses in order to take advantage of the low rates.
“Falling mortgage rates and a rally in home builder stocks are leading some analysts to suggest that the worst of the nation's housing slump may be over.”
“Although data released Thursday showed U.S. home prices making their smallest quarterly gain in eight years, some forward-looking indicators point to a stabilizing residential market.”
These falling prices should make buyers start to come off the sidelines and start buying houses, which will hopefully lead to a correction.
One thing that has surprised many people is the fact that we have seen an increase in home building stocks. This comes as a surprise due to the fact that many companies have had to reduce prices lately or cancel projects and developments all together.
“Home builder stocks rallied sharply Thursday after an analyst's upgrade. The sector was one of the strongest in November, with the Standard & Poor's home builder index gaining 10% last month, extending a rally that began in July and suggesting that investors see an improving outlook.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Chairman Alan Greenspan are among the enthusiasts who believe the market has bottomed out and we have seen the worst of what our housing market has to offer (or not offer for that matter).
Although some are trying to be optimistic about the situation, we still cannot ignore the facts at hand:
“The nation's housing market is still soft compared with the last three years, when prices and sales soared by double-digit percentages in many parts of the U.S., including California. There are three times as many homes for sale today and sales have declined as would-be buyers wait to see whether prices will fall. Even optimistic analysts say the sector may not be out of the woods yet, with some once-hot markets still vulnerable to further price and sales declines.”
It will be interesting to see how things pan out for 2007; hopefully this optimism will become reality.
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