Posted on February 14th by Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq.
2010 was the worst year for home sales in the United States since 1997. The National Association of Realtors stated that home sales dropped by 4.8% to 4.91 million homes sold in the year 2010. This is the smallest amount of home sales in the United States since 1997.
Foreclosures and High Unemployment Depress the Real Estate Market
The high volume of foreclosures in the United States, coupled with record-high unemployment rates, have depressed the real estate market in the United States. Many potential home purchasers are waiting to buy homes because the prices will continue to decrease. Many economists feel it will take an additional five to six years for the real estate market in the United States to reach a level of equilibrium. It is estimated that 2011 will even be a worse year for home sales in the United States due to increasing foreclosure rates. This should cause the value of homes to continue to decrease in value in 2011. Due to the foreclosure crisis in the United States, there are simply too many homes on the market and not enough prospective purchasers. In addition, it has become much more difficult to obtain mortgages for prospective homeowners.
Banks are carefully underwriting new mortgages. They are looking into the loan-to-debt ratio. They are performing more due diligence, such as to see that the mortgage applications contain correct information. The fact that mortgage rates are extremely low has not been successful in raising the level of home sales in the United States.
The current rates on fixed home-mortgages in the United States are approximately 4.74% for thirty year mortgages and approximately 4.25% for fifteen year mortgages. In November of 2010, rates reached an all time low of 4.17% for a thirty year mortgage and 3.57% for a fifteen year mortgage. The medium home price in the United States in December of 2010 fell to $168,800.00. This was down 1% from December of 2009.
The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense for homeowners throughout the Metropolitan New York area. We prepare mortgage modification applications. We litigate foreclosure lawsuits and keep our clients in their homes. We attend court foreclosure conferences. We deal with defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and bad faith on behalf of financial institutions. Should you have a problem call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.
