The US Housing Market Will Recover this Year, As long as Employment Improves
The U.S. housing market is poised to withstand the removal of government and Federal Reserve stimulus programs and rebound later in the year, contributing to annual economic growth for the first time since 2006 according to forecasts by Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist for Barclays Capital in New York. Sales of new homes still are forecast to increase this year as the economy improves, according to David Crowe, chief economist for the association in Washington, probably totaling 459,000 in 2010, up from 372,000 last year, he said. “A lot of people moved up their purchases to meet the original deadline and that used up a lot of the pool of potential buyers,” IHS Global’s Newport said. The credit of as much as $8,000 stimulated only 180,000 extra sales from December to April Foreclosures may increase to 2.2 million this year from a record 1.7 million last year, according to a forecast by Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com The number of vacant homes for sale rose to 2.09 million in the fourth quarter from 1.99 million in the prior period
Let's hope job growth really happens so we can be out of this recession.