(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare REAL ESTATE 2012, March 22nd in Los Angeles and RealShare Apartments East, February 15th in Washington, DC).
WASHINGTON, DC-The US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of the Treasury released the January edition of the Housing Scorecard—the Obama’s Administration’s report card on progress the national housing market is making in its recovery. The results, not surprisingly, were mixed and reflective of the still-fragile economic environment. This is not surprising, Joel Ross, principal with Citadel Realty Advisors, tells GlobeSt.com. “We have at least a year, and most probably more than that, of struggle in the housing market.”
The housing scorecard reported that inventories of existing homes for sale declined from 3.2 million in the second quarter to 2.4 million in Q4. Housing units held off the market have also fallen, from 3.9 million in Q1 to 3.6 million in the last three months of 2011. In addition, foreclosure starts continued to fall in December, though foreclosure completions ticked upward.
This market snapshot follows last month’s announcement by the Obama Administration of enhancements it was making to strengthen the Home Affordable Modification Program, as well as last week’s new plan to offer better refinancing terms to home owners, assuming it can be passed by Congress.
That plan also called for a $1 billion investment in the National Housing Trust Fund to develop, rehabilitate, and preserve rental homes that are affordable for households in the bottom 30% of income. The funding is needed, research by the National Low Income Housing Council shows; currently, there are only 31 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 households with income at or below 30% of the area median.
No doubt there is still much misery in the housing market, Ross says—at all income levels. Unfortunately, government initiatives will propel the market only so far, he says. “The foreclosed houses, the ones sold via short sales and REO, all need to be worked through the system,” he says. “This will be a slow process because home buyers are finding it harder to get a mortgage now.”
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
