Have Home Prices Hit Bottom?

For the past three years spring and summer have seen an increase in home prices along with an increase in the number of people buying homes. In the fall those increases have disappeared, even dropping below the starting point. This year, however, looks as though that may not be the case.

In July home prices were up 3.8% compared with one year ago, the largest increase from one year to the next in the past six. According to CoreLogic, the lowest level of the housing decline was during February, since which time the prices have risen 9.6%. These factors add to the evidence that home prices may have hit bottom.

While it is likely that home prices and the number of people buying houses will decrease in the fall it is unlikely that they will decrease by 9.6%. This kind of decrease has not been seen since March of 2009, during the economic recession.

This is the encouraging news. The discouraging information is that both the economy and the employment wages are not increasing fast enough to maintain this pace. According to Nick Timiraos at the Wall Street Times, investors likely realized it was an opportune time to buy and started buying up homes. He predicts that in the coming year prices are likely to continue to rise, although not at the rapid pace they have been, and will likely drop some due to seasonal factors in the coming months. 

HOMESELLERS:

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Ruben Garmyn & Jim Birtola
Team Birtola - Garmyn, Oregon's #1 Real Estate Team
Prudential High Desert Realty
Bend, OR 
Office: 541-312-9449
clientservice@prudentialhighdesertrealty.com
http://www.BendOregonRealEstate.com