Posted by Jessie Woodyard on Thu, Aug 13, 2009 @ 10:17 AM
Is housing back yet?
Recent reports are indicating a housing come-back, but are we ready for such optimism? The Fed yesterday announced that "the recession is ending...and economic activity is leveling out," following the decision to leave the short-term interest rate at its current, unprecedented level of virtually zero. This will indeed continue to spur the economy, if anything by providing home shoppers ideal buying conditions.
I'm sure Toll Brothers isn't complaining given their latest release of home orders up 3% in the third quarter. The news sent their stock (TOL) jumping 14.36% from $2.94 up to $23.42. The Bay Area is one of the markets Toll indicated as leading for luxury home orders, perhaps another sprout of optimism about local markets.
Other reports coming from the San Jose Mercury News are the gradual re-appearance of multiple offers, in some cases as many as 70 plus offers for a single home. Granted these homes are foreclosures listed, often times, at half their value; any savvy investor could easily catch wind of banks looking to unload these under-valued assets. But nonetheless, such activity has been a rarity since the high of the market just a few years ago.
Reports of increased home buyer activity combined with the curious news from Toll are subtle suggestions to the months ahead.
Warning: make sure you don't hold your breath.