Expect a Strong Spring Housing Market

Here is an interesting article posted by RealtorMag.org and offers some fairly good news about the residential housing market and associated industries such as roofing, vinyl siding contractors, gutter repair and cleaning and most other trades that would participate in the building of a new custom home or condominium complex.

 

We may be on the verge of spring, but housing and economic reports work on a bit of a lag time. We’ve only just gotten the major data reports for January, and it’s giving us a clear-eyed view of how the real estate market is measuring up this year.

And yeah, things are looking good.

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2016

Recent housing and economic reports predict we’ll see solid spring home sales, according to Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist. Here are some signs:

On jobs: “Job creation — arguably the most important factor in housing demand — is moving apace,” Smoke notes. In January, 151,000 jobs were created and unemployment is near 10-year lows. Smoke predicts that the latest employment growth should translate into a 3 percent boost to home sales this year.

 

On home sales: Existing-home sales from January 2015 to January 2016 have grown 11 percent. Sales are taking longer close, due to new mortgage rules that took effect last fall, but the pace of sales is growing. New-home sales have also grown solidly year-over-year, and the median price of new homes is declining as more builders offer more affordable homes than catering to just the luxury.

On home prices: Prices are moving up and most of that has been attributed to the limited number of homes for-sale. At the current pace, there is a four-month supply of homes on the market — much lower than the norms of six to seven months. “This is driving prices higher and encouraging consumers who hope to buy this year to get started as soon as possible,” Smoke notes.

Here’s a related video provided by Bloomberg Business on YouTube:

 

Article Source: http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/2016-off-to-good-start-home-sales/

More on housing starts on WordPress: https://redbrickblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/25/therell-be-a-boost-to-housing-investment-but-youll-have-to-wait-for-it/