No Housing Crash on the Horizon

The real estate market in the past few years has been quite robust. We have seen that the only real problem is the inventory shortage. House price appreciation has increased somewhat, as well. This price appreciation has some people nervous. They are remembering the housing bubble that occurred in the early part of the 21st century, which preceded the crash about a decade ago.

The thing to remember about that crash is that it occurred because of a bubble caused by other factors. The lending practices were extremely rash at that time. I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for used car sales that say, “job plus down payment equals car”. Well it got to be almost like that in the real estate industry with the subprime mortgages targeting people who really couldn’t afford to buy a house. These lending practices have since been corrected to a great degree.

House price appreciation has increased over the last few years, but not nearly at the artificial levels reached before the collapse. The increases are based on the market, that is, on supply and demand, rather than on artificially contrived lending practices. That’s the difference between an inflationary bubble and a healthy growth in an industry.

Most of the large cities are recovering rapidly from the housing collapse of a decade ago. Yes, there are still pocket areas that are struggling. The recovery is going more slowly in these areas. There will always be ebbs and flows in the real estate market, just as any in other industry. For the most part, however, the outlook is good, for the D.C. and other large metropolitan areas.

You can feel comfortable buying a home, and the Casey O’Neal Team of experts is there to help you with any aspect of buying and selling. Give us a call!