Now, for every Alexis McGee, there are two or three critics who think that we haven’t seen the bottom of this housing downtrend. Who is Alexis McGee you ask? She’s the president of ForeclosureS.com who has access to a great deal of real estate data and she predicts a major rebound for housing in 2008.
“Recovery is underway. Affordable is back in the housing market,” says Alexis McGee, real estate expert, educator, and president of ForeclosureS.com. “In 2009, housing will not only recover, but we’ll see buyers leap into this market in droves, depleting our housing oversupply, and actually put higher price pressures on the market.”
That’s pretty optimistic but I can’t disagree. If you look at the main reasons why families make the move they are:
- Mortgage Rates: Currently at or near historical lows.
- Property Prices: Today lower thanks to two years of price reductions nationally.
- Housing Choices: In most markets, inventory is way up!
For some, there are also tax credits from the government, which is making a concerted effort to kick-start our economy. To be fair, there are some negatives like consumer debt and uncertainty in the job market going forward.
For McGee, some of her viewpoints must be colored by the foreclosure numbers.
The latest U.S. Foreclosure Index numbers show November REO filings in the state down to 15,978 in November, down 6.55% from October and off nearly 50% from September.
When foreclosure numbers are tapering off, that has to be seen as another positive.
Here in Louisville, Kentucky, our situation is similar in nature but far less severe in amount. Our home prices never spiked as high as, let’s say San Diego, so Louisville is not going to fall by 35.6% like their market has been doing recently.
I don’t know about you, but for a real estate professional like myself, it’s certainly nice to hear a national expert speak positively about where Louisville’s housing market is going to go next year.
