This Week in Real Estate - 2-20-2015 - Homeownership stable

Big Picture for homeownership.

The Census recently released their 2014 Homeownership Statistics, and many began to worry that Americans have taken a step back from the notion of homeownership.

The national homeownership rate peaked in 2004, representing a 69.2% of Americans who owned vs. rented their primary residence. Many have noticed a decline in rate since then and taken that as a bad sign.

However, if you look at the national rate over the last 30 years (1984-2014), you can see that the current homeownership rate has returned closer to the historic norm. 2014 ended the year with a rate of 64% just under the rate in 1984 and 1994.

The housing recession was a correction in the market.

We see this all the time with the stock market and commodities such as gold. But the significant downturn we faced with housing was unprecedented. The correction was too extreme and the pendulum has swung back to the positive over the last 3 years as well with double digit increases in the median home prices.

Again signs are point to the normalization and stabilization of the real estate market.

-Kris

Tip of the week.

Following up on the tip last week of housing inventory, this is from Trulia.

Nationally, the volume of home sales in June is typically 29% above the annual average, according to Trulia.  In July and August, inventory keeps climbing as some sellers miss the sales peak. Homebuyers begin their search in March and April, but they really get down to business after Memorial Day.  The peak in June and July sales reflects the fact that many people want to move in summer when school’s out and the weather’s good.  In fact, more buyers are ready to close deals in the summer than any other time of the year. 

So get your house ready and on the market now, and take advance of the surge in activity.