Continued Widespread Weakness in Housing Markets
This news will not come across as anything shocking to those that follow the real estate market. Existing home sales are down in 41 out of the 50 states for the second quarter of 2007 (April through June).
The article published on Yahoo! does indicate some local markets saw price increases, but these were more isolated instances - such as the 4.1% increase in sales for Iowa and the 2.9% gain in North Dakota. (Adobe PDF version of the Yahoo! article). The subprime mortgage woes and tighter lending practices are certainly having an added affect on an already soft market. The markets will continue to be slow if the Fed decides to lower interest rates and the few buyers that are out in the marketplace right now might start to hold off on making a purchase in hopes of getting a lower interest rate on their mortgages.
The Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio markets continue to be stagnant. While we’re not seeing the huge declines in price that other areas of the country are seeing, more homes are taking longer to sell and prices have landed softly as opposed to rapid decreases.
As always, I welcome your comments and feedback…