There have been a lot of negative press swirling around housing lately, but there are some pleasant developments, too.
Here are 5 positive things currently going on in housing to be happy about.
1. Home sales are finally balancing out. Yes, home sales are technically down from last year, but the make-up of those lower home sales is markedly better than in years past. In just the last 3 years, distressed properties have gone from 40% to 14%. Housing cannot completely recover until distressed properties return to pre-recession levels. A decline is great news for the market.
2. Delinquencies are way down. Delinquent mortgages were perhaps the most visible sign of the housing downturn. Here in 2014, they are a shadow of what they were at the height of the downturn. As of March 2014 7.6% of mortgages were delinquent, still historically high, represents a massive decline from the 14.4% peak of 4 years ago.
3. Negative equity is also way down. The change in the nation's levels of negative equity has been nearly as dramatic. In 2013 alone, nearly 4 million returned to positive equity, with the number of properties in negative equity falling from 10.4 million to 6.5 million.
4. What mortgage increase? Everyone has learned by now that last summer's jump in mortgage rates was quite the shock. Economists have found that such shocks to the market last for 3 to 4 quarters. Considering that rates increased from May 2013 to July 2013, we're almost near the end of that shelf life.
5. Nowhere to go but up. Finally, we should keep in mind that though lending standards remain tight and new home sales remain historically low, they only have one way to go - up. It may seem difficult to imagine now, but lending standards will loosen as the economy improves. Additionally the U. S. population will continue to grow. People will continue to need housing.