Real Estate Values:
Is There A National Real Estate Recovery?
Indicators Of Real Estate Values Nationwide Actually Show A Mixed Picture
We've been hearing a lot lately about how real estate values are going up, activity is mounting, sales are brisk ... blah blah blah. Well, all that's true, if you're looking at specific, narrow markets.
When looked at in a nation-wide perspective, real estate values are giving a definite "mixed message". First off, when you study these numbers nationally, it becomes obvious that ... at least right now ... there IS no "national" real estate market. What we mean to say is that, at present, market activity is fragmented and segmented into smaller areas. None of the market activity we see right now is strong enough to bleed into surrounding areas and become a regional or national trend. This city is up ... that one's down ... and nothing is strong enough to unite the market into one definite trend.
Here's a report from Forbes, written by Ken Harney. He discusses this concept in depth here:
Is There a National Real Estate Recovery?
"Is American real estate in full recovery? Or something closer to half recovery? New data compiled from multiple listing services across the country suggest it’s the latter. Though they get relatively little public attention, the stark fact is that more than half (75 out of 146) of the top metropolitan real estate markets surveyed by Realtor.com in its latest monthly study are not seeing anything like a recovery." ...Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realtorcom/2012/11/20/is-there-a-national-real-estate-recovery/
Real Estate Values Still Depend On Health Of Local Economies
The upshot of this whole thing is fairly obvious, actually. Real estate values in a certain area depend on the health of the local economy. Is it producing jobs? Is housing affordable in the area, and do enough folks qualify for loans to feed the market? There are lots of questions like this that will determine the status of a local real estate market.
Until a lot of smaller local economies all answer "Yes" to those types of questions ... and answer that way together ... then these small markets remain fragmented and seperate. In this current state, there is no "national" trend in real estate values, only local ones.
Real Estate Values.
