Slow
and Steady Price Rise Boosts Housing Market Outlook
The details seem stubbornly worrisome. Mortgage
requirements have grown stricter. The Federal Reserve may or may not turn off
the cheap money spigot—and if anything causes the stock market to sputter, it’s
uncertainty. Occasional bits of good news in the labor picture can’t overcome
the fact that unemployment remains stuck on high in many states.
All of this should be bad news for the housing market in Metairie, except for one overriding
factor: apparently, American consumers aren’t buying it.
Despite uncertain economic news, consumers’ overall
expectations for the housing market remained steady. The Federal Reserve Bank
of New York’s monthly Survey of
Consumer Expectations, issued last week, found that most expect
home values to continue to climb through 2014. The uncertainty factor remains
largely stuck in neutral, pretty much as it has for most of 2013.
The survey found more nuggets of good news likely to
affect the Metairie housing market. There was no reported change from
February’s report that close to 20% of respondents say they are likely to change
residences in the coming year…similarly, the previous month’s finding that 44%
predict their personal wealth will increase remained steady. Taken together,
the two factors could likely indicate that a healthy number of home buyers will
be looking for housing of greater value than that at their current address.
Fannie Mae’s most recent monthly National Housing Survey echoed
the positive findings among consumers: “Notably,
respondents’ home price expectations climbed significantly in February—with 50%
saying home prices will go up in the next year…” Their finding of more
volatile consumer attitudes was mainly attributed to momentarily high energy
expenses caused by unexpectedly frigid winter weather.
Whether or not the national statistics accurately reflect local
consumer dispositions, they provide a backdrop that bodes well for the
impending spring selling season. Soon we’ll be entering the time of year which traditionally
results in a considerable uptick in Metairie housing market activity – which
may be prime time for determining whether this is the moment to make a change
in your own residential outlook. For more pinpointed, up-to-the-moment details
about your own neighborhood’s housing market profile, give me a call!
Terez Harris NOLA Real Estate Group
(504)297-2619
Harris.Terez@gmail.com
Keller Williams Realty New Orleans 8601 Leake Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 504-862-0100
Each office independently owned and operated. All brokers licensed in the state of Louisiana.
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