Is housing getting hot again? After the historic collapse of a
few years ago, the housing market has been on a slow rebound marked by
increases in new home starts and demand for a limited supply of available
houses. Now, a new survey reported in Business Insider offers evidence that the
US housing market isn’t just working its way back from the brink in fits and
starts, it’s rushing forward at a speed not seen in years.
According to Business Insider, the financial services
company Credit Suisse recently conducted its monthly survey of real estate
agents and housing industry experts in 40 US housing markets in an attempt to
profile the actual state of the recovery. Their results? Housing is at its
strongest in the history of the survey.
Granted, Credit Suisse’s survey only dates back to 2005. But it
spans the period of the housing bubble and its disastrous collapse as well as
events since then, so behind the hyperbole stand some real data that could shed
light on the state of he market as spring selling season approaches.
What’s driving the upswing in market strength? One key factor
appears to be a sense of urgency on the part of potential home purchasers.
These buyers fear that time is running out on those historically low mortgage
rates, and waiting to buy may lock them into higher rates. Home prices are
rising, too, and this along with low rates fuels a rush to get a good deal
before it’s too late.
Another factor driving buyer urgency is the well-publicized low
supply of available houses for purchase. That supply continues to shrink
nationwide, for numerous reasons including the holdup of many potentially
available properties in the foreclosure pipeline. What’s more, the length of
time required to sell a home also fell to a new low in major markets around the
country, signaling even higher prices in the coming months as demand outstrips
supply.
These indicators of a housing market that’s not just recovering
but surging come at a time when tighter mortgage lending standards threatened
to exclude numerous potential buyers from getting a loan, and financial experts
predicted am upsurge in the rental markets. But as numerous consumer surveys
continue to affirm, the “American Dream” of homeownership is still alive and
kicking for many, and potential buyers feel the need to act now in the face of
future uncertainties in the market.
