You don’t have to be a real estate agent to understand the importance of the housing market as a valid indicator of economical health in our country. When so many houses go into foreclosure due to lack of mortgage payments, something dismal is definitely going on. That’s the state we’re looking at right now for 2011: dismal.
For instance: the sales figures. If you look at the statistics, you’ll notice that back in 1994, real estate sales were around 700,000 houses total and lasted that way straight through the year of 1995. Surprisingly and well received, as the years passed up to 2005, the number of sales in the real estate market had increased to as high as around 1,300,000 all over the country. It definitely hit a peak.
To know just how dismal our real estate market is sitting, as you follow the statistics, the peak drops dramatically. From 2005 to now, sales went down to a horrible 300,000 houses sold just last year. The fear is that trend will continue.
Think about the logic of this trend. The less houses are sold, the worse the economy might get. Revolving around employment, credit, and even the quality and demand of housing, the real estate market probably suffers the worse out of any other market closely related to the stability of our economy. What needs to be done then?
Job creation, educational stimuli, tax cuts–basically citizens need to be encouraged to buy in order for the economy to grow. The obvious tactic would be to lower asking prices. Unfortunately, such a thing also degrades the quality of housing, thereby decreasing the quality of life and income in general of the population. Everything’s connected.
Not to sound too pessimistic, but the United States is heading toward a very dark horizon; and if something isn’t done fast, you could see houses go for as little as $500, leaving lost income for manufacturers, construction workers, builders, everyone. Hopefully we won’t see that happen!