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Derrick Strauss Says Real Estate Market Advancing Toward Recovery

• By Derrick Strauss on September 26, 2013

It’s hard to believe, says Derrick Strauss, that it’s been seven years since the real estate market crumbled almost instantly. Today, Derrick Strauss, marketing manager for All Western Mortgage, says that home prices are well on the road to recovery but have yet to match all-time highs.

Summer surge           

According to Derrick Strauss, June 2013 saw a steady rise in home sales. Distressed properties sold at an average of almost 2 percent faster than the previous month and nearly 12 percent more than a year ago. Derrick Strauss points out that the housing market has seen an average 11.93 percent increase in home prices since 2012, with many areas nearly tripling that number.

The real estate market is at its fastest pace since before the recession, says Derrick Strauss, but more growth is needed to reach peak levels.

Plausible prices

Derrick Strauss says that, despite aggressively recovering values, real estate in most parts of the country is priced moderately in comparison to years past. In All Western Mortgage’s home state of Nevada, Derrick Strauss notes that property prices rose a staggering 27 percent through the summer. Analysts believe this is the largest one-year price increase since the bubble burst.

Even with these positive numbers, Derrick Strauss points out that Nevada real estate is still coming in at only about 66 percent of its peak numbers. Nationwide, Derrick Strauss says there are only two states that actually saw a decrease in home values. Delaware’s home prices declined just about 1 percent below last year, while Derrick Strauss reports that Mississippi houses lost 2.1 percent in value, says Derrick Strauss.

Even with prices on the mend, Derrick Strauss believes that real estate may never see the inflated prices of the era before the housing crisis. The lower price tags actually reflect real estate values more accurately, says Derrick Strauss, and less expensive homes will serve everyone’s interest in the long term as more and more buyers reemerge.

Intimidating interest

Since the real estate crisis, Derrick Strauss notes that interest rates have been at about half what they were when homes were selling rapidly. Even so, new homebuyers may be fearful of another real estate riot with interest rates fluctuating as much as 1 percent month to month. Most real estate and finance analysts believe that the housing market is actually poised for a steady upswing, with interest rates following a similar pattern, says Derrick Strauss.

It will take a while for the United States to get back to the levels of homeownership seen in 2007, says Derrick Strauss.

In Chicago there are still more than 60,000 active real estate listings as of August 2013. Atlanta fares slightly better with 42,000 available properties. According to Derrick Strauss, it will be some time before these homes can be filled with buyers, because lending agencies continue to have historically high standards for credit worthiness.