In fact, the index increased in nine of the last ten quarters – this trend implies that commercial activity of net absorption and the completion of new buildings will remain solid through the third quarter of this year. |
In January, consumer confidence on expectations for the future was the highest in 13 months. Since purchasing a home is a long-term investment, this bodes well for the continuing strength of the housing market this year. |
In my opinion it's terrible timing--it's almost irresponsible. That would do severe damage to a lot of the local markets across the nation. We are looking at probably a 10 to 15 percent drop in home prices. |
In the handful of areas with price declines, none had previously experienced rapid price growth. In fact, they were all lower-cost areas experiencing one or both of the conditions necessary for temporary price softness -- local economic weakness, mainly in jobs, or a large supply of homes available in the local market. |
In the last two years housing has been the beneficiary of a weak economy. |
In the wake of interest rates peaking in November, I expect we are in a bit of a trough that may be followed by a modest rise and then a general plateau in the level of sales activity. |
In the wake of interest rates peaking in November, I expect we are in a bit of a trough that may be followed by a modest rise and then a general plateau in the level of sales activity. Existing-home sales should stay below the record levels experienced over the last two years, but they'll maintain a historically high pace. |
Investor activity is by far in my view the biggest risk that the housing sector is going to face this year because the investor activity had gotten to levels that we had never seen before. We're basically in new territory there. |
Is this a bad year? Yes. Are you going to bust? No. |
Is this going to send the housing market into contraction? No. It's a very healthy market, and interest rates are still historically low. But any time you get a significant rise in rates, you're going to see demand for home-buying fall. |
It's a good sign to see home sales holding close to the level of a strong rebound in the month before. |
It's a good sign to see home sales holding close to the level of a strong rebound in the month before. This is additional evidence that we're experiencing a soft landing. We may see some minor slowing in home sales as interest rates rise, but the market clearly is stabilizing. |
It's a nice rebound, but we have to discount some of this because of the warm weather in January, particularly in the Northeast. We may give a little of this back in the next month or two. |
It's a simple matter of supply and demand. We continue to have more home buyers than sellers in most of the country, which results in tight housing inventories and higher rates of home price appreciation. |
It's difficult to follow the strongest year ever. The boom is obviously winding down, that's what we're all saying ... but to still healthy levels. |