The past few years have been a nightmare for both anyone working in real estate and homeowners, as well. There is good news, however, for 2012. Many experts predict that this year will see better stability for many neighborhoods. That is not to say that some areas will continue to see a decline in prices but it is still a step in the right direction. Experts say that the real estate market should continue to improve as long as nothing extreme happens again to the economy.
As of last year, the average home prices across the nation fell by approximately 38%. In fact, very few cities saw any kind of appreciation in their homes. Furthermore, for the beginning of 2012 interest rates will remain low as long as unemployment is high and the economy is overall stagnant. The positive sign was that towards the latter half of 2011 home sales did increase in some areas compared to the past few years. And while the housing market is still in favor of buyers, the gap is slowly but gradually coming to a close.
Foreclosures have been a problem for many on the market. Some states still suffer from a high rate of foreclosures. Namely, the top ten states suffering the most are Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, Georgia, Utah, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado. The most important point to take away from this issue with regards to prices is that, even though foreclosures have a negative influence on prices, prices will not necessarily go down. This will be the case as long as lenders can manage to very steadily bring foreclosures to market.
