Housing Forecast for Southeastern Wisconsin
One of the best things about the “Power of Shorewest”, is that our management team does whatever is necessary to supply us, as agents, with the most current and effective information, in which to educate our buyers and sellers about the market. I just left a very informative conference regarding national housing trends, and specifically, how those trends affect our local Southeastern Wisconsin real estate market. Our guest speaker, a national real estate expert, left us with the message that “Realtors can help save the world economy!” I didn’t exactly sign on as a “world economic savior” when I received my license, however, in all seriousness, the fact that the world economy is tied to the United States economy, and the U.S. economy is driven, in large part by housing, does put Realtors® in a unique position of educating our buyers and sellers about how their home buying and selling decisions can assist in stopping the downward spiral of the housing market.
The biggest questions buyers and sellers alike are asking is, “Where is the bottom of this downturn?”, and “Is now a good time to buy or sell, or should I wait?” Let’s start with the first question.
According to some recent reports
, Washington sources are saying, “WASHINGTON -Single family construction posted a modest rebound in April, raising hopes that the three-year slide in housing is leveling off. But a bulging supply of unsold homes, record levels of foreclosures and still-falling home prices suggest a sustained recovery isn’t likely until next spring at the earliest.” Foreclosures are still on the rise, with reports on Bloomberg.com stating that as many as 700,000 homes are still being held in the wings, by major U.S. lenders, and are yet to hit the market, affirming the article cited above. So, is this the bottom?? If it isn’t, it’s close.
Now, let’s look at the second question…
Even if there is a bit more room in pricing regarding hitting the “price bottom”, rates are starting to inch back up. The Feds have stepped in to artificially control this trend, but eventually, the normal course of free economics will supercede, and rates will climb. The trade off between price and rate, may indicate that now is the time to act. To read more about this, check out a recent article
on my personal blog.
Posted by:
Karen Trepton
