The Wall Street Journal’s take on the current situation in housing is worth a read. A few notable quotes:
“Is the housing market getting better?
It has shown some signs of healing this year, but the much-touted recovery is tentative and fragile.
While the supply of middle-class homes on the market has declined somewhat, it remains ample in most places. And there is a huge glut of high-end houses for sale in many areas. That means prices of high-end homes might still have a long way to fall.
What signals should I watch to determine whether my local market is improving?
One way to get a sense of supply is to ask a good local real estate agent for stats on how many homes are listed for sale in your town and how many months it would take at the current sales rate to absorb that supply. Anything over about six months generally is considered high, meaning that sellers might have to cut prices. Another way to get a sense of a neighborhood’s health is to count the number of for-sale signs and vacant houses. If there are more than a couple vacant homes in a block, that might be a bad sign, particularly if no one is taking care of them.”
The full article is at —
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125841123967851223.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories
