No idea what the housing market will do

Reading the national news on the changing market leaves one no better off than before reading.

Inman:

“Many of the fundamentals for housing are at a crossroads: Inflation, interest rates, demand, household incomes, prices, and whether homes are a good investment compared to other investments. Summer is going to be interesting to say the least,” Prentice said.

Apparently from the same press release:

“Right now sellers are sticking to their price,” Los Angeles Realtor Brock Harris says. “We’re seeing a lot of over-optimistic sellers and increasingly cautious buyers. That’s keeping a lot of inventory on the market.” How might that change? “At some point someone’s going to drop their price. People will see that as the new comp and it’ll be a domino effect.”

CNN:

Charlottesville (area) properties will appreciate 2.6% from 2006 to 2007. HT: Urban Trekker

Bernake (via WSJ)

In a question and answer session following a speech at the Chicago Fed’s annual banking conference, Mr. Bernanke said it “seems pretty clear that the housing market is cooling,” though he added that the slowdown is “orderly and moderate.”

Who knows? My prediction remains – properties will continue to appreciate, yet not nearly at the same precipitous rate that they have for the past several years. We’ll see in about 18 months.

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