Homebuilders Holding Onto Hope

It has been quite a while since we have seen new homes being built around town. The housing market has taken a fall in this unsteady economy, and new home sales were among the worst hit. Many home builders have been at a halt and forced to seek employment elsewhere to make ends meet. However, despite record high foreclosures and shortsales in the past few yeras, the housing market is beginning to show signs  of recovery.

Under Construction

The turmoil in the mortgage loan industry, coupled with economic waves, left new home builders holding properties they couldn’t sell.  Strict down payment standards and tight lending qualifications left many potential buyers out of the market. Forced to compete with low priced foreclosures and short sales, home construction companies were dropping out of the game. Many facing huge losses and even bankruptcy to resolve their overshadowing debts.

Homebuilders associations around the country are feeling a bit more optimistic these days. With signs of home values increasing and foreclosure numbers dropping, new home construction companies are hoping to get some relief as well. An indesx that guages new home sales expectations has shows some improvement over the last 6 weeks. Although the general consensus is that outlook  is “fair”, some parts of the country have shown a two to three point index increase.  Without getting too optimisitic many are just happy there is some movement at all, and not the drudge along the bottom that has been the pattern for the last few years.