As compared to historical trends in housing prices, the price of homes is set to steadily, yet positively rise this time around. The housing recovery has led to an increase in house prices all over the country. According to real estate data, prices rose in approximately 225 cities among a total of 276 which were included in the analysis.
Nationwide, an increase of 10.9 percent was noted, leading to an increase in home prices by around $30,000, increasing the median price to $215,000. For those who have been waiting for the right time to sell their home – this is the ideal moment.
Traditional buyers, in an attempt to take advantage of affordable home prices, were driven by the urge to maximize their assets in 2013. However, these buyers had inadequate options, and were frequently forced to bid in order to be able to secure the property. It was the sellers who benefited from such ‘bidding wars’, and generated great profit by gaining sales, frequently above the asking price.
Interestingly, more than half of the cities which were surveyed have experienced a double digit increase in house prices. A 32 percent gain was reported in Las Vegas. Both buyers and investors hurried to get their hands on more property which was still affordable than the 2006 peak.
Those observing the real estate market say that home prices will indeed continue to rise well into 2014, but at a pace much slower than ever. It is expected that the prices will rise from anywhere between 3 to 5 percent.
Nevertheless, it was also found that the number of buyers who are willing to purchase a home within the next few months is at an all-time high, since 2000.
This increase in home prices will result in the surfacing of those people who were lying dormant as a result of the higher mortgage they owed as compared to the worth of their home. These people will emerge and start to buy or sell homes. States such as Arizona, Florida and Nevada have the highest percentage of underwater homeowners.
Nevertheless, people who had listed to sell their home are now expected to buy another one. It has been forecast that the regular pace in housing will not be able to resume until the third or fourth quarter of 2015.
