Stronger housing demand predicted for 2011

According to two leading economists, the real estate market is on the rebound. Moody’s Chief Economist Mark Zandi (Moody’s Economy.com) and the National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun recently predicted a marginally stronger demand for housing heading into 2011.

After the roller-coaster ride of the last two years, forecasts are finally looking up. Where there was only bad news before, now we can see signs of hope in the near future.

Inch by inch, consumer confidence is returning to the real estate market. Every day, more and more people consider a new home purchase. By 2011, it will be enough to create some genuine competition among buyers.

Not only is consumer confidence returning, we are seeing progress as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This legislation is channeling money where it is truly needed—to communities who desperately need a boost for their local economies.

So far, it’s working. Jobs are being created. Consumers are spending again. Cities and towns are growing.

It is true that this “new normal” is not the free-flowing money we had become accustomed to prior to 2007. Unfortunately, money was actually too easy to get back in those heady days.

The market needed a correction, and that’s exactly what happened. The only problem was that the correction was sharp, and it tumbled home values nationwide – sending the United States housing market into a free-fall.

The bright side to all of this is that the worst is certainly over. We can only go up from here. We still enjoy legendary low interest rates. Homes are more affordable than at any time in a decade. People are still on the move to new jobs, new lives, and new retirement.

If there’s one truth evident from every crash we have ever suffered, it’s that the United States eventually comes bounding back in a big way. According to the predictions mentioned above, we are entering the first phase of the next rebound.

If you’ve been thinking about selling, there are buyers out there who are looking for a great deal right now. If you’ve been thinking about buying, right now is a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of the winning combination of low interest rates and low prices.