If you're looking at housing statistics over the past quarter or year, there's no question you're going to come up with a lot of negatives.
But if you look ahead -- there definitely are some positives taking shape.
No one is predicting any quick turnarounds or sudden bursts in sales, but think about these facts:
- Thirty-year mortgage rates continue to be in the mid to upper 5 percent range -- among the lowest in half a century. If they stay low, most economists agree they will stimulate home sales.
- Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that he is committed to lowering short-term rates even further to help stimulate the economy -- and hinted that the Fed could cut rates another half point in mid March.
- The new, higher mortgage maximums for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA will kick in by mid-March and should help thousands of first-time buyers in high-cost markets like California and the Northeast and ultimately help clear out some of the unsold inventory clogging those areas.
- Combine low-cost money with sharply lower prices and at some point, you hit bottom -- flatten out -- and sales begin to pick up.
Downcycles aren't forever, nor are upcycles.
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080221_realestateoutlook.htm
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