Steady US Real Estate Recovery Predicted

 

A steady recovery is predicted for the US residential real estate market, despite some ongoing challenges, according to the National Association of Realtors.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said to the 2010 Realtors Conference and Expo that he expects a continuing improvement of underlying fundamentals of the current market in the coming years.

'A slow recovery is taking place as we head toward our goal of a stable, solid housing market. However, the pace of job growth will determine the strength of the housing market recovery," he explained.

Overall real estate experts are cautious but optimistic about the current and future state of the industry. Panelist Margaret Kelly, chief executive officer of RE/MAX, said today"s market shouldn"t be called the new normal because the old market was abnormal. 'The spike up and down in the housing market wasn"t normal so we shouldn"t be measuring ourselves against it," she said.

Kelly added that despite some challenges there are plenty of opportunities in the housing market with low mortgage interest rates, abundant inventory and stable prices attracting buyers to the market.

'To be successful in the current housing market, real estate professionals need to educate themselves about buying and selling distressed properties and working with investor buyers, who are a significant part of the market. Real estate professionals should be learning how to handle short sales, how to market themselves and find buyers and to really understand market conditions," she explained.