Kathleen Finnegan

2013 california housing market

If the experts are correct, California´s housing market will stay the course in 2014, with sales and prices continuing to increase slowly and steadily as they have for two years.

Interest rates remain at historic lows and home prices are still relatively affordable. However, while it’s an excellent time to buy, it’s not a simple time to do so, as banks aren’t making credit easily available, and many of those who purchased their homes at inflated prices several years ago aren’t inclined to sell just yet.

Still, surging demand is creating rumblings that we are about to witness a revival of the Golden State’s real estate market.

Chalk up the ongoing recovery in part to decreasing unemployment, according to the Long Beach Business Journal. The increased possibility of the need for office space is prompting build-outs in various parts of the state, it recently reported.

Meanwhile, home sales are expected to increase in California this year. In October, the California Association of Realtors released its 2014 California Housing Market Forecast, which saw sales increasing 1.3 percent next year to reach 530,000 units.

“Housing affordability has never been stronger – with record-low interest rates and favorable home prices, combining to create a once-in-a-generation opportunity to buy a home in California,” said LeFrancis Arnold, CAR president. “Sales would be even higher if inventory were less constrained in REO-dominated markets, particularly in the Central Valley and Inland Empire, where there is an extreme shortage of available homes. Sales will be stronger in higher-priced areas, where there are more equity properties and a somewhat greater availability of homes for sale.”

CAR predicted California´s 30-year fixed mortgage rates will rise slightly to 4 percent, which is still historically low.

Meanwhile, the association predicts the statewide median home price will increase by 5.7 percent to $335,000 in 2013.

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 29th, 2013 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Interesting Statistics, Market Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.