The Housing Market

The Housing Market

Has the housing market bubble burst? The past few years has seen the rise of unbelievable heights, in the housing market. The results of this rise can be seen all over the country, not just the usual suspects like California, which is where most of us are used to seeing astronomical housing costs.

The New York Times, in an analysis of data from the Census Bureau, “reported that the burden of housing costs in nearly every part of the country grew sharply from 2000 to 2005,” according to www.cnnmoney.com. This has left many people without any hope of buying their own home. This also explains the rise of the many creative mortgage deals that have popped up throughout the country.

In another Census Bureau survey they report, “in 2005, 34.5% of homeowners with a mortgage were paying 30% or more of their gross income on housing costs.” But, it appears that things may be beginning to slow down.

In an article for www.usatoday.com, by Adam Shell, it is stated that “while the bubble may not be bursting, it does appear to be slowing down.” There are many factors that may be contributing to this.

Contributing Factors

• The war
• The rise in price of oil
• The lack of confidence in the economy

</ul

There are many more factors that go into the slowing down of any market, but in every case it ends up being a snowball effect. One thing will always affect another, and so on. But, the housing market has been so overly inflated for so long that it was only a matter of time before it began slowing down. And there does seem to be concrete evidence of this happening.

Proof of a Slowdown

As written in usatody.com

• The commerce department said sales of new homes in September fell shy of expectations, median prices fell 5.7%
• The number of new homes for sale rose to a record 493,000
• Freddie Mac said October mortgage applications seem to be tapering off
• CEO of Chicago-based Leading Real Estate Companies of the World says the market is leveling off.

Although it doesn’t seem as if there is a market crash looming ahead, it does look like prices may be finally slowly coming down to a realistic level. That may mean that hard-working people will be able to provide a home for themselves and their families without having to spend every waking minute in the office in order to be able to afford it.