An Economist's View of the National Housing Market

Economists are divided as to the direction of the national housing market. Some believe that the environment is stabilizing and that prices will increase from here. Others see further price decreases once the government support fades away. Barry Ritholz is one economist we follow regularly, through his posts on The Big Picture blog. Right now, he has a strong negative view on the future of the US housing markets. One of yesterday’s posts broke down

National Real Estate News Roundup

There have been a few interesting real estate stories and announcements around the nation this week. But first, the changing seasons along tree-lined Farmington Avenue in West Hartford Center. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a piece on Shadow Inventory (Subscription Required), which are homes that are not currently on the market but are expected to be listed for sale in the near future. They focus on foreclosures, and found about 1.5 million mortgages currently in

Revisiting Greater Hartford's 2009 Spring Real Estate Market

The summer is essentially over, so we’re closing the books on the spring/summer real estate market. How did we compare to last year? As always, data came from the CT Multiple Listing Service for single family homes only and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed… My observations… 1. Aggregating the towns, closings this year were just about even with June through August 2008, up just 1.1%. Some towns saw wild fluctuations though. South Windsor, Vernon,

Greater Hartford July 2009 Real Estate Market Statistics

The July real estate market statistics for Greater Hartford are ready and they look better than they have in many months. As always, data came from the CT Multiple Listing Service for single family homes only and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed… My observations… 1. Twelve of the seventeen towns covered actually saw an increase in the number of closed sales when comparing July 2008 to July 2009. Also, when aggregating these towns, the

Greater Hartford Q2 2009 Real Estate Market Statistics

We’re past the Fourth of July holiday and agents have entered in the last of their closings for June, so it’s time to take a look back at how we fared with real estate sales in the Greater Hartford area during the second quarter. All data was compiled from the CT Multiple Listing Service for single family homes only and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. My observations… 1. The number of closed sales for