Towards a solid recovery towards the end of 2007. One sign is the demand for home loans swelled 16.6 percent during the week ended Jan. 5th according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Requests for purchase loans were up 16.2 percent and refinancing applications rose 17.3 percent. The strong recovery compares with a 14 percent slide in application volume before Christmas and a small improvement of 3.6 percent just after the holiday. The higher demand for mortgages could signal an impending recovery— even though the MBA numbers were seasonally adjusted to account for the New Year's Holiday. This sentiment was echoed by a panel of experts at the RealEstate Connect Conference in New York last week; Unless employment erodes or the Federal Reserve Board boosts interest rates significantly, the housing market will revive in the second half of the year, “By the time we get to the mid-part of the year we’re going to see some pretty clear, consistent signs of recovery in home sales and single-family construction,” said panel member Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. Economists agreed the factors for recovery are in place: Mortgage rates fell by more than half a point between July and December, job creation has grown, and home prices stabilized or fell. For more info on Inman’s RealEstate Connect: http://www.realestateconnect.com/ny07/ This Week’s Real Estate Insight: Don’t get caught up in timing the market, if it makes sense for you to buy now, then buy. Ten years ago, a friend of mine bought a condo at the (then) height of the market, and paid $200,000 for a modest 2 bedroom unit, within a month, comparable units in her complex were selling for 20% less than what she had paid. Last week, she put her unit under agreement for $420,000, and has rolled her equity into her new dream home.All signs are pointing...
- By Michael McCann
- Posted
Towards a solid recovery towards the end of 2007. One sign is the demand for home loans swelled 16.6 percent during the week ended Jan. 5th according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Requests for purchase loans were up 16.2 percent and refinancing applications rose 17.3 percent. The strong recovery compares with a 14 percent slide in application volume before Christmas and a small improvement of 3.6 percent just after the holiday. The higher demand for mortgages could signal an impending recovery— even though the MBA numbers were seasonally adjusted to account for the New Year's Holiday. This sentiment was echoed by a panel of experts at the RealEstate Connect Conference in New York last week; Unless employment erodes or the Federal Reserve Board boosts interest rates significantly, the housing market will revive in the second half of the year, “By the time we get to the mid-part of the year we’re going to see some pretty clear, consistent signs of recovery in home sales and single-family construction,” said panel member Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. Economists agreed the factors for recovery are in place: Mortgage rates fell by more than half a point between July and December, job creation has grown, and home prices stabilized or fell. For more info on Inman’s RealEstate Connect: http://www.realestateconnect.com/ny07/ This Week’s Real Estate Insight: Don’t get caught up in timing the market, if it makes sense for you to buy now, then buy. Ten years ago, a friend of mine bought a condo at the (then) height of the market, and paid $200,000 for a modest 2 bedroom unit, within a month, comparable units in her complex were selling for 20% less than what she had paid. Last week, she put her unit under agreement for $420,000, and has rolled her equity into her new dream home.
