Chris Gmyr

We all know that the housing market has been struggling for quite some time. Certain areas have been hit harder than others, but just like with other markets in the economy, everyone is feeling the impact of the housing market as it struggles.

Last Wednesday, February 24, 2010, the Commerce Department said that new home sales have dropped 11.2 percent in January, the lowest level on record for nearly a half a century. This came as a big shock and surprise to many economists who were expecting a five percent increase over December’s sales.  Some say that this major drop was partly due to winter weather conditions, but that the housing market has been struggling for several months despite government support and assistance.

January’s weaknesses were seen in all regions except the Midwest which saw a 2.1 percent increase. Government mortgage programs have tried to keep rates down by using the Federal Reserve to buy $1.25 trillion in back mortgage securities but that program is due to end by March 31, 2010. Other tax credits and incentives are also set to end in April.

Many people do not believe that the housing market will go under, but it will take longer to reach a good point of recovery. This means that real estate agents need to do everything they can to sell, sell, sell, and sellers need to hang in there. We all need to keep our fingers crossed, do the best we can, and hope for the very best.