Low point likely passed for Houston housing market
Posted on Thu, Jan 14, 2010
Allison Wollam at the Houston Business Journal reports:
The extension of the home-buyer tax credit and housing affordability is expected to improve the local housing market this year, but one local expert predicts that 2010 will be a holding-pattern year rather than a rebound year in the Houston market.
Mike Inselmann, president of Houston-based research firm Metrostudy, spoke at the Greater Houston Builders Association Forecast Luncheon on Monday and told the group that although credit is still tough to obtain, there are reasons to be optimistic about the housing market in 2010.
Inselmann said that publicly-held builders exhibit the most optimism as the year begins and are beginning the year aggressively.
He added that most industry observers expect the current low mortgage interest rates to rise later in the year because the Federal Reserve has stated its intent to cease buying mortgages in April.
Inselmann predicted an increase in additivity in the first half of 2010 as big builders are expected to test the market to see if it will support their strategy of putting speculative inventory into the market and betting on the continued success of the home-buyer credit.
He said Houston likely passed the low point in the housing cycle in the early months of 2009.
Builders started roughly 18,000 homes in 2009 and will close 21,000 sales and reduce inventory once again by 3,000 homes. Builder inventory of homes under construction has dropped from 18,000 to below 6,000 since mid-2006.
Read the full article here.