What is the Media Saying About the Market?
Opportunities for Some
There's an upside to the nation's housing glut, fed by the crush of foreclosures: Housing gets more affordable.
More than 2.3 million homes went into foreclosure last year. There were 290,000 filings in February alone, up 6% from January.
The number of homes for sale in 2007 soared to 10 million but inched back to 9.4 million in 2008, as construction of new homes slowed and prices sank, Lucy says. That's still almost 40% higher than 10 years earlier, when fewer than 7 million homes were for sale.
Sales of existing homes rose 5.1% to 4.72 million from January to February - the largest sales jump since July 2003, the National Association of Realtors reports.
The surprising increase was driven by buyers taking advantage of big discounts on foreclosed homes. The median sale price was $165,400, down 15.5% from a year earlier and down 28% from their peak in July 2006.
First-time home buyers who could not break into the housing market in the boom years are prime buyers now that prices are at or near bottom and mortgage interest rates are below 5%.
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-04-09-vacanthomes_N.htm
Analysts: Real estate recovery boosts Wells Fargo
Real Estate Investment SmartBrief | 04/10/2009
The welcome surprise of Wells Fargo's earnings coming in higher than expected is being taken by Wall Street as a sign that residential real estate has found its bottom and is ready to start recovering. The banks turning in the biggest gains are the ones that have the largest mortgage holdings, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan and PNC. Investors also are anticipating banks will re-equitize following the successful re-equitization efforts of a number of REITs.
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