A new national survey released by Prudential Real Estate shows that Americans are significantly more optimistic about home ownership than they were a year ago. According to the survey, a full 60 percent of Americans have favorable views toward the real estate market. That is up eight points since last year.
“It is clear that consumer confidence is on the upswing nationally, and all indications are that things are just as positive, if not more so, for Houston,” says Mark Woodroof, partner with Prudential Gary Greene, REALTORS®.
“In Houston, year-to-date single-family home sales are up 13 percent over last year, and dollar volume of homes sold for the same period is up 10 percent,” adds Woodroof. “There is more buyer demand, as indicated by the number of contracts written, which is up nine percent over this time last year.”
Marilyn Eiland, also a partner with Prudential Gary Greene, REALTORS®, says that more good news comes from a new report from real estate investment services firm Marcus & Millichap. “This report projects that Houston will add 91,000 jobs this year, a surge that could stimulate demand for commercial real estate development and, ultimately, home sales,” says Eiland.
More details from the national Prudential Real Estate survey:
• With interest rates at historically low levels, 96 percent agree or somewhat agree that now is a good time to buy.
• A full 70 percent of respondents have some degree of confidence that property values will improve over the next two years; with an eight-point increase in those very confident or confident compared to last year.
• 63 percent believe that real estate is a good investment despite the recent market volatility; that is up 11 points from last year.
For more information, visit www.GaryGreene.com.
