North American Real Estate News

Home values in US are hitting bottom line in US. People are wondering whether there are any chances of recovery of real estate in the near future. Many people have lost their homes and are looking for rented houses. There are many reasons for people loosing their homes and few of them are jobs lost due to economic crisis, refinancing of homes, foreclosures etc.Only people who are benefiting from the situation are the people who purchased home by paying cash in full. Economists predict that it will take at least five more years for the situation to become normal or stable.

Recession had forced many employees to cut jobs in various industries. Millions of people have lost jobs in the last financial year. Recession also affected real estate to a great extent. Many people who had lost their jobs are not able to pay their monthly mortgage loan payments. Major Bank has announced good reduction in mortgage loan monthly premium .They have reduced the premium to a minimum of $500 per month for unemployed owners. The reduced premium is less than or equal to average rental of a single bedroom flat paid monthly. Unemployed owners will be eligible for the mortgage benefit only if they submit documents proving their unemployment.

A new program launched by Freddie Mac has raised the hopes of the borrowers in this recession period who were being evicted from their homes due to foreclosures. Now they can back in their homes as renters. This government controlled mortgage company announced that it will extend its moratorium on foreclosure related eviction till April 1st. this will be a welcome move for it will prevent the properties from lying vacant and become damaged. They will provide a month to month lease. This will be welcome by many people who now have more time to find accommodation for them.

Prices of real estate have dropped to their low in last six months. All 20 metro areas in US has experienced decline in real estate rates .There is noticeable fall in home prices and its percentage is slowly increasing month by month. The fall in prices in December is 2.5% when compared to 2.3% in Novemeber.Major housing markets in US are New York, Chicago and Los Angeles .All the three major markets have seen drop in prices. Though there is a major drop in home prices, US housing markets are experiencing slow sales. Realtors are anticipating worst in the near future. Affordability is the main reason seen for low home sales.

The new stimulus package announced by the President Obama is expected to have a good impact on the real estate market in the United States. Though there is a hesitation among the people for investing in the housing market the National association of realtors expects to see at least 900,000 more homes in the coming year as compared to the previous year. This will be mainly due to the low interest rate in the housing market. The year 2009 will be much better than the past year when housing market had touched a new low. The stimulus package will boost the market.

From despair and doom, the current scenario in the US real estate market, looks likely to have a turnaround for the better in the near future. From the bitter lessons learned this time, when the stocks plunged, excessive valuation and over investments would not be resorted again anytime in the future.

The ongoing economic recession has seen the real estate market crash. Since there were no takers for housing there was an abundance of property in the market. No that the interest rate has also declined to a record low level the coming spring will be the best time to buy a home.

For people who own rental apartment properties there is good news from the FHA. It has decided to provide more long term multi-family mortgage money. This will be particularly helpful to those financing and refinancing problems due to the credit freeze. The FHA temporarily suspended its ban against issuing loans on apartment buildings.