Has the Housing Recovery Finally Arrived?

Watch this beautiful Video of the South Bay and you will understand why so many reside here.

Housing sales are starting to go up, building starts are up, condo and town home sales are setting new records in some areas. And we are seeing an upswing in South Bay real estate. Mortgage rates are still at an all time low. Lenders say they have money to lend. Lenders have tightened up their processing and underwriter guidelines,  which is slowing down overall processing and funding times.

Experts say that if there is no unforeseen crisis in the near future the trend should continue with gradual increase in sales. Foreclosures and lack of inventory is affecting many markets across the country at the present time, and that should start improving gradually.  One factor that is helping to fuel the gains is heavy buying by investors, many paying cash for hot properties. Flipping houses is again being advertised heavily which causes some concerns. Many experts feel that “flipping” along with other factors was a major cause of some of the real estate problems of recent years.

The pace of building is picking up as well, with housing starts in some states like Washington, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and South Carolina are likely to near the levels last seen in the 2000-2003 period, by the end of this year. Construction industry experts are predicting a possible 17-20% increase in new housing starts. General increases in building permit applications are already being seen in some “hot market” areas.

So what’s the down side of all of this?  The unknown possible tax hikes coming in January and some other possible worsening economic factors coming out of Europe and Asia that could affect more than just the real estate industry.