In 2012, More Consumers are House Hunting
Throughout much of the recent economic troubles, these years behind us also greatly impacted the Real Estate market in a very negative way. This led larger corporations and investor groups to take advantage of the many distressed properties and individuals who no longer could afford their current living situations. Although this was the trend for years, the typical consumer is now coming back to the Real Estate market with a renewed sense of confidence and optimism. We have mentioned in a past blog about how April has shown improvements over March in the United States, as well a blog about the continuous rebound the Massachusetts market is experiencing. Clearly, consumer interest in Real Estate is once again growing.
It must be noted that the investor sector has strengthened the overall Real Estate market nationwide. According to the National Association of Realtors, 1.23 million homes were purchased by investors in 2011 accounting for a very drastic 64.5% increase over their total purchases from 2010. In addition, this 1.23 million properties represented 27% of all home sales for 2011.
Now looking to 2012, things certainly are changing for the better with an injection of faith looking to the future direction of the Real Estate market. For April of 2012, homes that were cash purchases totalled 29%. Although this was down from the 32% for cash purchases in March, there was still an increase in single-family home sales by 3%. Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun, noted that the recent boost of consumers purchasing property has helped home sales in all price points of late and is beginning to show a continuous increase in prices across the country as well.
Investors have been leading the way in purchasing properties at a discounted rate only to renovate them for their re-positioning on the market. On the other hand, consumers are now starting to target these currently affordable properties with the only intention of making it their home. For the first time in quite a while, many offers are being received on properties from consumers and bidding wars are thus driving the median prices up. This just further supports the notion that the Real Estate industry is really turning heads and making strides in 2012 and it is something that we should all be aware of as the year goes on.
More Information: The Fiscal Times
