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Do you agree / disagree?

By
Mortgage and Lending with Nationwide Funding Group

MERRILL DECLARES "BEAR" MARKET IN HOUSING 

In a new report, Merrill Lynch declares that housing is in a bear market and that a "buyer's market" for homes should last for "years." Merrill notes that the unsold inventories of homes continue to pile up, and that resale prices are flattening in the single-family market, while declining for condominiums. Meanwhile, a new report by Friedman Billings Ramsey says home price gains will continue to slow nationwide. FBR is still bullish on the nation's largest market, California. It predicts that house prices in the state "should rise by a median year-over-year rate of 24.1% in 1Q07, whereas they had risen by a median year-over-year rate of 21.7% in 1Q06." FBR cautions that home price gains in California will not be uniform.

Comments (1)

Brian Nelso
Thneed, LLC - Aliso Viejo, CA
Brian Nelso
My answer is:  It depends.  I thing regionally, prices will slow their rate of appreciation, but still appreciate.  However, in areas of over-inflation, the prices are bound for a correction.  The market will probably be flat for about two years before picking up again.
Aug 17, 2006 12:03 PM