Good news! Our local economy appears to be heading toward recovery (finally!) and the housing market appears to be hot on its heels.
I recently attended the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland hosted the 2012 Housing Forecast Breakfast at the Oregon Convention Center. Three respected economic experts presented Portland-metro area housing forecast for 2012.
To no one’s surprise, restoring our economy to a pre-recession state will take time. Signs of a steadily improving economy are prominent, most noteworthy are decreasing joblessness and increasing migration to our area will help the market gain footing.
While the market for renting is currently strong, these indicators, rising rents and the affordability of new homes, will spark home sales.
Now just might be the right timeto consider a new home.
Here are a few stats that I gathered from the presentations to further indicate improvements in our housing market:
- Foreclosure rates peaked in 2009Q3; the rate of housing sales is expected to be 42% of normal by 2012Q4 and 61% of normal by 2013Q4.
- New bankruptcies in 2011Q3 were 18.8% below their levels of 2010Q3.
- Currently delinquency rates are at their lowest since 2008Q4.
The housing market is still not ideal, however, with the economy showing signs of steady improvement, this information should make everyone feel better about the coming years.
Kevin
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