I have been reading articles talking about various reports and surveys which all point to one thing in common, increase in Home prices are happening all throughout the nation. Let’s look at few of them.

A report published by Fiserv(which used data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency for its projection), Home prices are expected to continue their trajectory upward, projected to rise 3.7 percent between the third quarters of 2013 and 2014.Following the third quarter of 2014, Fiserv predicts home prices to rise an average 3.3 percent annually over the next three years.

“Although some recent real estate activity has been speculative, it seems as if buyers have more realistic expectations about housing market returns after having lived through the largest housing market crash in U.S. history,” says David Stiff, Fiserv’s chief economist. “2012 was the first year since 1997 that the housing market has resembled something recognizable as normal. For the past 15 years, home-price changes and sales volumes have either been boosted by a bubble mentality or crushed by crash psychology.”

In 1997, home prices grew at a 3 percent rate, Stiff says, but from 1998 to 2006, prices started soaring above 5 percent and even saw double-digit increases in some of those years.

By the end of 2013, Fiserv expects that home prices will increase in nearly every U.S. metro area, while some markets may see short-term double-digit price increases. Read full article here.

According to another National Housing Survey conducted by Fannie Mae in Feb 2013, number of consumers who believe home prices will increase over the next year rose to record highs, It polled more than 1,000 Americans to assess their attitudes toward housing.

42 percent of consumers surveyed say they believe home prices will rise in the next 12 months, and 10 percent of consumers say they believe home prices will inch down, a survey low.

25 percent of those surveyed say they believe it’s a good time to sell a house, also the highest level ever recorded in the survey’s history.

41 percent say they expect their personal financial situation to improve over the next two months — a drop of 2 percentage points from January.

31 percent say they have significantly higher household expenses than a year ago.
38 percent of respondents say the economy is on the right track.

Overall, the survey showed that consumers are optimistic about the housing recovery, but that optimism isn’t carrying over to the direction of the overall economy or household finances. Read full article here.

In Texas, especially Houston is already experiencing the increase of new and resale home prices in many local markets like Woodlands, Sugar land, parts of Katy & Cypress. It may be hard to swallow for many prospective Home Buyers but that’s the truth. The days were buyers ruled the market is history. It’s now Seller market in many areas around Houston or at least sellers are not willing to budge. They don’t want to come to table for any kind of negotiation. They want to stick to their price and willing to wait longer as they are aware of the fact market is on their side. When comes to New homes, Builders are increasing their prices every 2 weeks in many master planned communities taking advantage of the demand.

If you are in the market for new or resale home, you better ready for tough negotiation or settling for price close to the market value unless you find a reason for seller to agree for better one. Always get help of a smart realtor to work with you.

About Vijaianand Thirnageswaram

I am a Proud Realtor of Texas, trying to guide and help clients to find their dream home and educate them to buy them for right price. I am also a Candidate for CFP who has more financial knowledge which allows me share and educate clients in any financial decision making process.

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