- Image by tamaki via Flickr
Today, the numbers for October housing starts came in, and it appears as though things slowed down in a major way during October. The fact that there was such a slowdown in October only reinforces the idea that recent progress made by the housing market was largely due to the first time home buyer tax credit. The news is that, with the extension of the credit (perhaps it’s time to buy a home), there are expectations that things will pick up again.
However, Wall Street isn’t feeling as sanguine about the whole thing. Since it is clear that recent progress was due to government help, there are concerns that the economy is not doing as well as hoped. As a result, it is little surprise that stocks are down this morning. Some are evening wondering if a double-dip recession is on the way.
If that is the case, and the housing market sees another fall, the buyer’s market may continue.
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[…] Housing starts may have slowed in October, but the news isn’t all bad on the housing market front. Indeed, existing home sales are heading higher, surging in October to levels not seen since February 2007 — before the mortgage market collapse began. CNN Money reports on existing home sales in October: The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales rose 10.1% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.1 million units, up from the downwardly revised rate of 5.54 million in September. […]