If you’re someone who works in the real estate field, then it probably brought a smile on your face if you came across the news that the prices of homes seem to be back on the rise. According to a recent survey conducted by Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller, it appears that 19 of the 20 major cities that they cited had houses on the market that rose a fairly significant amount last April.
The cities that appeared to have the largest gains were San Francisco and Washington. The cities that seem to be showing the greatest signs of recovery are Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami (which are ironically three of the cities that had the hardest hit in times past). Unfortunately, the one city that showed the most negative growth is Detroit, a city that has been struggling, significantly, for quite some time in many areas.
Although this is the first time in seven months since the housing market has seen this kind of growth, many analysts believe that one month is not nearly enough time for anyone to get their hopes up. However, while David Blitzer, the man who currently serves as managing director and chairman of the index committee for the company that conducted the survey, agrees that one month does not a full recovery make, the fact that cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami have seen some progression, that is a pretty good indicator that a healthy real estate market may be well on its way.
Additional findings within the survey revealed that among the cities surveyed, there was a 1.3 percent increase in sales from March-April. This is really great news considering the fact that most analysts only predicted a 0.3 rise. However, there are economists that have made a concerted effort to point out the fact that most of those 20 cities have actually had negative growth in comparison to last year; home prices actually fell 1.9 percent as it relates to the 20-city composite. Plus, the index is down a startling 34 percent since they reached their peak exactly six years ago during the summer of 2006.
Due to all of the “peaks and valleys” of the real estate market over the past several years, it’s pretty understandable why, even in spite of this news, analysts and economists would still be hesitant, and perhaps even a bit skeptical to throw a “house party” just yet. Housing prices (and sales) have definitely been in an unpredictable slump for quite some time now. Yet, now that banks are getting back to processing more foreclosures and short-sales at a faster pace than in recent times past, at least for now, it’s a pretty fair assumption that housing prices will continue to rise. Again, at least for the moment.
So, if you’re in real estate, this could be your “light at the end of the tunnel”. Perhaps it’s just a matter of time before you’re the leading online estate agent. Just make sure to do your research and to keep watching “the forecast”. It currently seems to be pretty “partly sunny” in the real estate atmosphere, but as we all know, things can change at a moment’s notice. Don’t be pessimistic, but do remain realistic.
