Real Estate Market by Richard Warren | September 7, 2009It was the worst of times and it was even worse than that. A recent Case-Shiller housing report finally showed some hopeful signs recently. The report showed that housing prices for the second quarter of this year were up for the first time in three years for 18 of the 20 markets that were tracked. The two that were down? Detroit and Las Vegas.
The two markets were very much the same, yet so different. The same in that they are still showing price declines but the future outlook for each is like night and day.
Blogs by Richard Warren | August 31, 2009For the past several years it seems that every time you ran into a real estate agent he would proclaim that the market was at the bottom and it was time to buy. Of course, that was nothing more than the agent’s vested interest speaking. The market continued to slide in just about every city. Some fared worse than others, but few areas of the country were spared.
Many inexperienced and even some veteran investors have an expectation that the real estate market can turn on a dime in the manner of a speedboat. Perhaps they think it’s more like the stock market, which can swing wildly from one trading session to the next. However, real estate is more like a supertanker in that it takes a long time to change course. The reason for that is simply the lack of instant liquidity and the time it takes to complete each transaction.
Recent Data
There is good news. The latest report from the Case-Shiller U.S National Home price Index shows that real estate prices have shown their first quarterly increase in three years. Does that mean that the bear market in real estate prices is over? Not by a long shot. There are many foreclosures on the horizon and the national economy is still hurting. However, it’s a start.
Joshua Dorkin
