In the first post in this series, I looked at how we got here. As a quick recap: at the end of 2008 the economy was facing a deflationary threat. In response, the government put a stimulus program into place and the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to near zero. Today’s question is how has this paid off? At the national level, manufacturing is rebounding. New homes sales have bottomed. However, they are currently near their bottom. On an absolute level, the total new home sales inventory is now below the historical norm of approximately 300,000 – 400,000. That is a very good development. The housing market is healing as evidenced by the sales pace of existing homes and the inventory situation in the new homes market. [Read this article]

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Home buyers hoping to take advantage of a new or extended tax credit should not procrastinate: This third bite at the apple will be the last. Proponents of the $8,000 credit for first-time buyers and the $6,500 credit for move-up buyers made it clear during the debate on Capitol Hill that the benefits would not be renewed when they expire. And a lobbyist for the National Assn. of Realtors confirmed that at the group’s annual convention last month. Lawmakers “made us promise practically in blood that we would not come back” for another extension, Linda Goold, the Realtor group’s director of tax policy, told her members. [Read this article]

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Consumer doubts about the purchase of a first home are sometimes considerable. Can I afford a home? Will I qualify for financing? We believe the next four months offer great opportunities to becoming a homeowner, and while there are many reasons one should make purchasing a first home a New Year’s resolution, here are 10 benefits of homeownership we think are important. [Read this article]

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This just in from the California Association of Realtors: Home sales in November were 4.7% higher than a year earlier and the median price was 5.8% higher. That’s right, the median price was almost 6% higher than 12 months earlier! Housing, especially in California, still has a lot of issues to work through, but it is important to note these gains came at a time of serious government problems and unemployment rising to over 12%. [Read this article]

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One year ago, the nation looked upon the new year of 2009 with a mixture of hope and trepidation, as the nation faced the very real threat of reliving the Great Depression. Now, as 2009 draws to a close, neither our worst fears nor our highest hopes have come true. So with 2010 approaching, there’s still a mixture of trepidation and hope, but a lot less of the former and a bit more of the latter. The outlook for next year in California is for an improving job market, a sluggish but (eventually) growing economy and a stable housing market. San Diego County is expected to keep outpacing the state in all those areas. [Read this article]

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The plunge in U.S. home prices probably eased further and consumer confidence climbed, giving the economy a lift heading into 2010, economists said before reports this week. Property values in 20 metropolitan areas probably fell 7.1 percent in October from a year earlier, the smallest 12-month drop since 2007, according to the median forecast of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before a Dec. 29 report from S&P/Case-Shiller. Household sentiment improved in December for a second month, another report the same day may show. [Read this article]

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There is encouraging information and opinion on the U.S. housing picture, including here in Tampa Bay. However, there remains much work and recovery yet to occur, and as even the housing industry leaders will acknowledge, the answer is not to build more and bigger houses but to create well paying jobs. As a planner by background and a development industry executive, I think that rather than a traditional “V”, “U”, “L” or “W” shaped recovery, the housing turnaround will be more of a Nike “swoosh” – we are just beyond the bottom and beginning a slow, but steady climb to stability. I believe that 2010 will be a more confident consumer cycle, and we will see continued improvement in housing. [Read this article]

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Home sales across Northern Virginia in 2009 will easily outpace the anemic performance of a year before, and if December turns out to be a strong month could equal or exceed 2007’s mark, as well. Northern Virginia’s 2009 sales totals will be announced by MRIS around Jan. 10. (“Northern Virginia” in this case consists of the counties of Arlington and Fairfax and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church.) In month-to-month comparisons through November, home sales across Northern Virginia in 2009 were up in each month compared to a year before, with the sales difference ranging from 0.1 percent in August to 42.5 percent in November. [Read this article]

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More property markets in the US are expected to recover in 2010 at the nation’s real estate markets move closer to stabilization, according to the latest forecasts. In the New Year property markets in a dozen states are projected to appreciate, demonstrating the development of an improving trend in many markets across the nation, says the Best 25 Market Forecast in 2010 from Florida based Housing Predictor. Despite the weak economy, property sales are increasing in the majority of the country and are projected to improve over the first half of 2010, boosted by the federal government’s expansion of the homebuyer’s tax credit, it adds. [Read this article]

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