15 Jan 2014 Housing Review: A Year of Jobs, Record-Low Interest and Tight Inventory Sets the Stage for 2015 Growth
This year demonstrated a steady build-up of housing momentum – fueled by significant improvements in economic fundamentals, low mortgage rates, and compressed inventory – and is expected to carry the market into 2015 gains, according to the 2014 Housing Review issued by realtor.com. This review includes the Top 10 Real Estate Trends that defined the 2014 housing market, as well as the Most-Searched Neighborhoods of the year.
“Many of the gains that we recently predicted in the realtor.com 2015 Housing Forecast are built on housing growth established in 2014. Overall, this year’s housing market showed steady advances over 2013 with significant improvement in key housing metrics, despite some remaining challenges,” said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for realtor.com. “Increases in job creation and gross domestic product (GDP) have had a significant impact on consumer confidence and home buyer demand. Paired with historically low interest rates, these factors kept properties moving quickly with median time on market at approximately 90 days. Unfortunately, the low number of homes for sale and stringent lending standards prevented a normal number of first time home buyers from closing on their first home in 2014.”
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