Healthy Gains Predicted for Existing-Home Sales in 2014

Home resales should increase at a healthy clip next year, according to National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun. “We’ve come off of record high housing affordability conditions in the past year, and are now at a five-year low, but conditions are still the fifth best in the past 40 years,” he said in a presentation at NAR’s 2013 Realtors Conference & Expo. However, Yun noted, incomes are barely rising. And he said that challenges moving forward also include limited supply in many areas and mortgage lending standards that remain too stringent. The top 10 markets to watch for a housing turnaround in 2014, according to the NAR forecast, are Salt Lake City; Naples, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Atlanta; Boise, Idaho; Houston; Charlotte, N.C.; Denver; Seattle; and Tucson, Ariz. | Read More