Wall Street Journal Hammers Away
Today’s Wall Street Journal had and extensive article on its front page entitled, Housing Market Shows Signs of Cooling. To read the article you need to have a subscription to the Journal, but here are some excerpts:
Snip…
["The [house-buying] frenzy is over," says Steve Murray, president of Real Trends, Littleton, Colo. Mr. Murray says it may take six to eight months before sellers accept that the market has softened and reduce their asking prices. He said some of the brokers surveyed were surprised at how rapidly the market seemed to be cooling in recent weeks.
"We believe the market has peaked," says Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Because of brisk sales earlier this year, he expects sales of new and previously occupied homes to reach a record 8.3 million in 2005, up 4% from 2004. But he believes sales will decline 3.5% next year, ending a four-year streak of record-setting totals.]
Snip…
[Others fear that the slowdown will be more painful, particularly in areas where prices have soared the most. In a report issued earlier this month, analysts at the New York office of Swiss bank UBS AG said the current upswing in home prices has now matched the unusual surge seen in the aftermath of World War II. Because price increases have been unusually swift and prolonged, the report said, "the odds of a soft landing seem smaller than if the cycle had peaked earlier."
In Westchester County, N.Y., just north of New York City, Greg Rand, managing partner of Prudential Rand Realty in White Plains, says he expects prices to fall by around 3% next year.]
Snip…
["The [house-buying] frenzy is over," says Steve Murray, president of Real Trends, Littleton, Colo. Mr. Murray says it may take six to eight months before sellers accept that the market has softened and reduce their asking prices. He said some of the brokers surveyed were surprised at how rapidly the market seemed to be cooling in recent weeks.
"We believe the market has peaked," says Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Because of brisk sales earlier this year, he expects sales of new and previously occupied homes to reach a record 8.3 million in 2005, up 4% from 2004. But he believes sales will decline 3.5% next year, ending a four-year streak of record-setting totals.]
Snip…
[Others fear that the slowdown will be more painful, particularly in areas where prices have soared the most. In a report issued earlier this month, analysts at the New York office of Swiss bank UBS AG said the current upswing in home prices has now matched the unusual surge seen in the aftermath of World War II. Because price increases have been unusually swift and prolonged, the report said, "the odds of a soft landing seem smaller than if the cycle had peaked earlier."
In Westchester County, N.Y., just north of New York City, Greg Rand, managing partner of Prudential Rand Realty in White Plains, says he expects prices to fall by around 3% next year.]
posted by Little_Silvered at 6:04 PM
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