Home owners, instead of just home buyers, are finally getting some good news out of the media: the Fed thinks we are about to move out of the recession (see article). home prices have stabilized in our area (see article). and the number of home sales has increased dramatically (see article). These things probably mean we are at the bottom of the housing cycle.
When we take a look at what has happened in the housing market in Long Beach (for example) over the past twelve months, we find that the number of homes for sale has decreased radically while the number of pending/closed sales has increased significantly. I have summarized this reduced supply and increased demand using a chart built from MLS data.
The single most important result of all this data is that buyers who want to take advantage of bottom-of-the-cycle prices and incredible low interest rates are beginning to run out of time.
As of May 7, 30-year fixed was at 4.84%, and the 15-year fixed was at 4.51%.