It will take years for the housing market to sort itself out.
The good news is that prices in select locations are rising.
Time to buy residential real estate.
* * * * * J B K * * * * *
San Francisco
Purchases slumped 17 percent the month after a government tax credit was originally due to expire, the biggest decline since records began in 1968, to a 5.45 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median sales price increased for the first time in two years.
First-time buyers rushed to complete deals before the $8,000 government incentive was due to end, pushing sales up 28 percent in the three months to November. The subsequent extension and expansion of the credit to include closings through June signal demand will strengthen in the first half of 2010, while raising the risk the market will then slow anew should jobs remain scarce.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=arAUMdte7f1Y
