Only moderate slowdown predicted
The latest State of the Nation’s Housing report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies suggests that we will only have a moderate slowdown rather than an all out bust of the housing market.
While interest rates and rising energy costs are putting the squeeze on many Americans, According to the Harvard Study:
the housing sector continues to benefit from solid job and household growth, recovering rental markets, and strong home price appreciation.
Certainly we are not seeing any appreciation in the Southwest Florida market right now. In fact, across the board price reductions are the entree de jour on the menu these days. On a national basis, I do agree with the solid job growth….although job growth in the real estate and development centric Southwest Florida market will lag more diverse job markets.
The State of the Nation’s Housing 2006 [Joint Center For Housing Studies]
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Echo the sentiments of the Harvard Study, Wharton Professor Joseph Gyourko suggests that “in niche markets like condos there are crashes absolutely waiting to happen.” He sees no “great collapse” on the horizon, though. In Gyourko’s view, local economic factors — such as job growth and supply restrictions on residential real estate — justify the hike in real estate prices in many cities, particularly on the coasts.