Over the past decade, the housing market has seen some rough times. During the recession, the housing market took the biggest hit it’s had since the Great Depression. There’s never a flawless market, but how do we know if the market has fully recovered from its downfall a few years ago? The most important tip you can apply is to do the research yourself, but here are just a few tidbits of information you may not already know about the current housing market in the United States.
The Bad News
The reports on the housing market are somewhat conflicting, depending on the source of your information and your location. Some cities just haven’t recovered, and are still battling financial ruin in their local housing market. Unemployment has been marked as a negative factor to the housing market. If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.
Even though the U.S. unemployment rate has fallen recently to a little over eight percent, the underemployment rate is still peaking at twenty percent. This means there are a whole lot of people that are not making the kind of money they are qualified to make. Therefore, there are fewer citizens that are even qualified for the minimum requirements set by lending agencies like Fannie Mae.
The Good News
The good news is that the market isn’t bad everywhere you go. There are cities that are thriving, and some parts of the market are unbelievably excellent. Building permits and construction permits are on the rise overall too. This shows signs of future expansion of the market and a healthy pulse.
There’s a slight issue with all these booming sites, though. The cost of housing for the average family is skyrocketing in those areas. This will eventually push the prices on real estate back up to where there will be another slump in the market. Keep your eyes on the prize, because regardless of the many negative reports, the market does seem to be recovering as a whole.
The Future
It’s impossible to predict the future with certainty, but the numbers usually add up. The future looks like it could be equipped with another slump in the housing market. Foreclosures and bank repossessions have risen dramatically in the past two years. There are over four million Americans currently in default on their home loans. These specific citizens face foreclosure and repossession if they are not able to make good on their home payments. There’s no way to know if this will translate into another housing market crash, but there’s certainly reason for concern and vigilance.
