Worst Housing Market in Decades

More bad news from the housing market front.

The home buying season was a bust.

March through August are typically the peak buying months. But this year, Americans bought fewer new homes in that stretch than in any six-month period since record keeping began a half-century ago.

Sales of previously occupied homes didn’t fare much better; they nearly matched 2990’s total for the peak buying months. And that was the worst since 1997.

Combined, total sales this spring and summer were the weakest on records dating back to 1963. The figures underscore how badly the housing market is faring and suggest that a recovery is years away.

Because the economy is barely growing and unemployment exceeds 9 percent, many people see a home purchase as too big a risk. Some worry about losing their jobs. Others can’t afford the 20 percent down payment most lenders now require. (Source: Seattle Times)

While the meltdown in the housing market can be attributed to extremely lax lending rules brought about by democrat demands that lenders give money to anyone breathing, the continued soft housing market needs to be examined.

As long as unemployment remains where it is, people are not going to purchase homes. And as long as there is an administration in the White House that is hostile towards businesses, except those that give lavishly to democrat causes and candidates, the housing market will remain an anchor on our economy. With the recent fall in value of nearly all sectors of the housing market, in some regions to historic lows, the real estate market should be booming right now. As an example, homes in my area have fallen by nearly a third. What was once beyond the reach of a lot of people, except through fancy lending, is now reasonable. When we were searching for a home in 2005, we looked at property. It was a tad bit beyond our means. Five acres was going for $125,000. In many cases, those same lots are now $70-$80K. But with banks rightly demanding more from the people they lend to, it is becoming much harder to buy and sell.

The only way this is going to improve is when the employment market improves. When there is more money flowing in the economy, people will be more inclined to purchase. I also think that if the employment picture is improved, the banks will react with a more positive lending environment. If they see that Americans are going back to work and staying at work, they could scale back their demands because it will be less risky to loan money.

And until there is a more positive business climate, those ideas mentioned above are not going to happen.