It has become a tradition of sorts to open up each year with examination of the state of the Real Estate Market…. This year is no different except in what I have to report. For the past couple of years we have experienced some tentative signs of recovery… 2014 was indeed a very different year… the kind of year that should put at least a hint of a smile on the face of homeowners. The bulk of the housing crisis is behind us… we’re back into an almost normal world, if indeed such a thing has ever existed.
Foreclosures are down significantly… the lowest they have been since 2008 and it appears moving lower… The Inventory of homes for sale is also at its lowest point since 2008. Yet new construction has kicked into high gear. And with those changes, we have seen the solid return of home appreciation rather than depreciation.
S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
Despite our projection and those of the market experts that interest rates were surely to rise in 2014… They have fallen to historic lows again… Though the forecast for rising rates on the horizon remains… Just 10 days ago rates were at 3.5% for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. Even the market pessimists don’t foresee rates higher than 5% by the end of 2015.
With improved and sustained economic indicators across the board, things are certainly looking better than 2010/2011… the real pit of the economic crisis. Add to that the unimaginable reduction in gasoline prices (though call me a pessimist, we know that won’t last) and the economy looks to be poised for some healthy growth in 2015, and perhaps a new period of American optimism.
This makes for the return of opportunity for the general public… for the ability of Baby Boomers to downsize, for millennials to buy their first home … for renters to join the ranks of homeowners whose net worth is more than 36 times that of a renter (Federal Reserve 2014).
What it doesn’t do is provide reasons to keep renting, or to expect to steal a home that’s in foreclosure (or otherwise), or to keep waiting for the bottom of the market… you missed it.
If you’re looking to buy a home, those that don’t act in 2015 will be saying: “If Only, I had…”
For the rest of you congratulations you’ve made it to the other side… I hope that you’re a homeowner and enjoying that fact again.
May the Market be with you.
