New Listings for Year |
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| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
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January | 5,932 | 5,000 | 7,943 | 9,305 | 10,304 |
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February | 5,116 | 6,276 | 7,103 | 8,484 | 9,121 |
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March | 5,774 | 7,171 | 8,546 | 9,906 | 10,480 |
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April | 5,634 | 7,514 | 8,281 | 9,442 | 9,482 |
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May | 5,687 | 9,014 | 8,331 | 10,269 | 10,033 |
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June | 5,956 | 8,930 | 8,779 | 10,170 | 9,538 |
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July | 6,384 | 10,571 | 8,515 | 9,450 | 9,900 |
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August | 5,976 | 9,654 | 9,421 | 10,357 | 10,475 |
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September | 5,616 | 8,936 | 8,544 | 9,233 | 8,713 |
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October | 5,878 | 8,558 | 8,148 | 9,296 | 9,441 |
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November | 4,768 | 6,651 | 7,062 | 7,611 | 7,505 |
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December | 4,384 | 4,345 | 5,628 | 6,304 |
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| 67,105 | 92,620 | 96,301 | 109,827 | 104,992 |
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Statistic shows that listings between 2003 to 2007 grow about: 64%
Forecast
Several positive developments in the credit market will pave the way for improving housing market conditions going into 2008. The worst in the credit crunch of August is clearly over. A bold move by the Federal Reserve in cutting the rate by 50 basis points in September and another 25 basis points in October helped with liquidity and even more importantly in lifting confidence of financial investors that the Fed will not permit a freezing of credit in the marketplace. Markets, therefore, have settled down and mortgage rates have trend back down to about 6.3% on conforming loans - near historic lows.
The subprime lending will definitely not return to where it had been a year ago. That is a good thing. While some subprime loans make sense, the vast majority of subprime borrowers likely did not know what they were getting into. Low-and-moderate income families will (and should) now look to safer FHA loans.
They carry much favorable interest rates and they have infrastructure already setup for counseling and lossm ation. Though the credit problems appear to be over, there is an overhang that looms large that could hamper housing market recovery. Inventory is high. But keep in mind that many people live in the homes that are listed for sale. These people are homesellers as well as homebuyers - unless they want to move into renting or selling a vacant home. A bigger concern on inventory is on newly constructed homes because they are purely vacant. Carrying a vacant home by builders is an expensive proposition and, hence, builders will be forced to provide more incentives and price cutting to attract buyers. Interestingly, inventory of newly constructed homes has been falling for the past 5 months thanks to major cut backs in construction by homebuilders. Inventory looks to be further shaved based on major further cutbacks in single-family housing starts and single-family housing permits.
Despite all the "negative" media coverage on housing, home prices in the region have largely held on onaverage. Sure, there are neighborhoods where home price declines are notable, and REALTORS® can pinpoint those areas. One principal reason for price stability is due to the fundamentally sound local economy. Job gains continue locally. Housing figures for September and October look to be weak, which will get officially reported well into late November, from the lingering impact of the August credit crunch.
