2013 Real Estate Market Outlook

In case you haven’t noticed… the housing market is making a recovery.
Most investors still shudder at the thought of investing in real estate again, but it’s time to reconsider.
Here’s why:

• Housing starts have risen for three months in a row, with the number of units now exceeding an annual rate of 715,000 units. Admittedly, that gets the market nowhere close to the 2.1 million starts 2005 marked in its entirety, but it’s still a strong step in the right direction.
• Building permits usually act as a decent stand-in for future construction. And in March, they beat out expectations to reach 769,000 units, their highest annual rate since September 2008. Better yet, there are signs of more to come, since new home inventories have been at historical lows during the past three years. This means that there aren’t as many houses on the market, which means that any uptick in demand will need to be met with new developments and individual residencies.
• The National Association of Realtors/ Index of builder confidence has moved upwards in each of the last five months. At the end of the first quarter of 2012 it touched its highest level in five years. So it’s no wonder then that Stuart Miller, CEO of Lennar Corporation, the third-largest U.S. homebuilding business, enthusiastically declared that “a very real trend is beginning to take shape… There are empirical data points that are today confirming that the market is showing real signs of stability.”
• In its most recent earnings report, Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN), the nation’s second-largest homebuilder, beat analyst expectations for earnings by 100%. New orders increased 33%. Backlog grew 39%. And total sales rose 30%.
• In the first quarter, inventories fell to less than a three-month supply in markets including San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, northern Virginia and Seattle, according to online brokerage, Redfin.
• D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), the nation’s largest homebuilder, recently beat analyst expectations for earnings by 225%. (That marks the second consecutive quarter of stronger-than-expected profits.) New orders increased 19%. Backlog grew by 17%. And total sales rose 28%.
• For the first quarter of 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that property values rose 0.3% month-over-month and 0.4% year-over-year. That’s the first positive reading since 2007.
• On May 15, the NAR reported its Housing Affordability Index hit a record high.
• In the first quarter, foreclosure filings in the United States fell to the lowest level since 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc. And resale of foreclosures by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dropped 18%.

These are very positive signs that an improvement is underway. But before we get into more reasons why we think now’s the time to buy real estate-related investments (and our favorite investment in this industry)… let’s take a quick look down memory lane. To a time when real estate used to be the absolute darling of the markets.If your interested in buying or selling give out team a call at 615-476-2953

Joseph Goodman *ABR*GRI*SRES*
The Goodman Group
C21 WMRA
615-444-7100 office
615-476-2953 direct
thegoodmangroup@me.com email
www.PossessTheLands.com Web
www.thegoodmangroupcrs.blogspot.com