USA TODAY: ….Home sales and home building are forecast to rise this year after sliding steeply the past five years in housing’s worst downturn since the Great Depression.
Recovery is expected to be slow, and home prices are widely expected to fall this year. But investors are betting on the start of an upturn, bidding up home builder stocks and causing them to outperform the broader stock market.
Chief executives are more positive. JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon said last week that housing is near its bottom but could stay there a year. Stuart Miller, CEO of home builder Lennar, said the market has started to stabilize because of low prices and record low interest rates… (more)
EDITOR: Seems like we publish the same story each year. We now are in the fourth year of what many said would take five years before recovery. It may well take longer. Strong recovery will not occur until prices stabilize and start to rise. This isn’t likely to occur so long as so many foreclosures of mortgages “under water” are taking place.
These comments from the USAToday article:
“Until jobs start coming back they shouldn’t even discuss housing. People are not going to make the biggest purchase of their lives until they have comfort their job isn’t going away or isn’t a temporary situation.” “I read several similar stories—this time last year. Apartments might increase, but single family will be around flat.”
Don’t forget the Real Estate industry and their influence…………….