Promise holds out for home sales
As we ease into the fourth quarter of our year we continue to see signs of a slow, but steady recovery in the housing market. Builders reported another increase in new home construction last month. This marks the biggest increase in more than four years. Driven by the historically low interest rates that have persisted this year, buyers are active although not in droves, but they are buying.
We have reported here consistently over the last several months of increases in the number of sales of residential properties in all areas of our Multiple Listing Service and we have seen prices follow in most of those areas. In other parts of the country, activity is brisk as well, indicating a true recovery, not exclusive to the North Idaho market.
In a recent report by the Urban land Institute, Seattle ranked No. 7 of its "Best bets for Real Estate." Leading the pack was San Francisco. The Seattle PI, in reporting on this study, had this to say: San Francisco was rated first for investment, development and home building in the 2013 "Emerging Trends in Real Estate" report by the Urban Land Institute and PwC.
The report says: "In 2013, San Francisco steals the triple crown from Washington, D.C., receiving top billing in the Emerging Trends investment, development and housing categories. 'San Francisco is driven by growth and a strong jobs outlook, led by technology and a structural change away from suburban and toward downtown.' Continued infill interest is supported by one of the best transit systems in the country and a city center with walkability that is No. 2 only to New York City. 'This around-the-clock city has someone pushing paper, shopping, shipping or sightseeing all the time.' According to 2013 forecasts from Moody's, San Francisco's GMP growth will reach 1.7 percent, and the city will add almost 50,000 jobs from the 2007 peak. This pair of growth indicators should open investors' eyes even wider to this global city. Even though industrial diversity seems weak here, investors still savor its skilled personnel and the facts that high tech accounts for 10 percent of the city's jobs and the young demographic represents over 15 percent of the population. Even with a questionable business climate at times, San Francisco has a mix that draws many corporations now and will draw them in the future."
We have "walkability" and "bikeability" and we certainly have great sightseeing, but why should you be interested in the Seattle and San Francisco markets? Because what happens there happens here, eventually. In the housing boom of 2003-2007 we saw the escalation of activity and then prices, begin in the Bay area. The growth then headed north to Seattle and spread throughout the Northwest, where people looking to invest in real estate began reaching further and further to find bargain priced real estate. At the time, it was known as "the roll."
According to the PI: "Real estate continues to meander along a slower-than-normal recovery track, behind a recuperating U.S. economy, dogged by ongoing world economic distress," starts the 2013 "Emerging Trends in Real Estate" report by the Urban Land Institute and PwC (formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers). "But for the third-consecutive year, Emerging Trends surveys indicate that U.S. property sectors and markets will register noticeably improved prospects compared with the previous year, and the advances now gather some measure of momentum across virtually the entire country and in all property types."
Investors are gravitating to real estate because, despite its slow recovery, they can make money there, while other investments tighten, said Mitch Roschelle, a partner and U.S. real estate advisory practice leader for PwC. "The big driver is this chase for yield."
Watch closely, as will we, for some are predicting another real estate boom in 2015. We will be ready, will you?
Trust an expert...call a Realtor. Call your Realtor or visit www.cdarealtors.com to search properties on the Multiple Listing Service or to find a Realtor member who will represent your best interests.
Kim Cooper is a real estate broker and the spokesman for the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors. Kim and the association invite your feedback and input for this column. You may contact them by writing to the Coeur d'Alene Association of Realtors, 409 W. Neider, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 or by calling (208) 667-0664.