About a week ago, glum housing market reports started coming out – again. According to the Equifax Personal Finance Blog, a myriad of reports confirmed bad news for homeowners, would-be homebuyers and the housing market in general. These included:
• Home values as low as they were in 2002 – or lower.
• 12 percent drop in pending home sales.
• More people than expected filing for unemployment.
• Record lows for new home sales and low applications for purchase mortgages.
(To see more information on these facts and their sources, visit “Housing Market Predictions: Home Values Continue to Sink,” by Equifax real estate expert Ilyce Glink.)
Ouch!
In her analysis of the statistics, Glink predicts that the real estate market “won’t work our way out of this anytime soon.” She cites the State of the Nation’s Housing Report, released by the Harvard Center for Joint Housing Studies, which points to stricter lending standards as one of the culprits in the slow recovery. While the report seems to suggest that another homebuyer tax credit might provide the needed push, Glink disagrees that a tax credit is a responsible and effective means of turning the real estate market around.
Now that all of us in the Atlanta real estate market have had a think to chew on the numbers, what do you think? Is it all gloom and doom? Would a tax credit help? Where are you seeing hope? Check out Glink’s article at the Equifax Personal Finance Blog, then come back and let me know what you think.
Comments(0)