Housing market in “early stages of recovery”

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Two public house-building companies released strongly optimistic comments about the future of the housing market this week.

Robert I. Toll, executive chairman of Toll Brothers, stated: “We believe the housing recovery has many years to run. Housing starts, through ups and downs from 1970-2007, have averaged about 1.6 million annually. According to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, ‘Despite the rebound in the last two years, home sales and starts are still nowhere near normal levels. This was the sixth consecutive year that starts failed to hit the one million mark, [which was] unprecedented before 2008 in records dating back to 1959.’

“Meanwhile, the country has continued to grow. In 2005, the peak of the last housing cycle, U.S. population stood at 295 million. That number reached 316 million in 2013, an increase of 21 million people. Even with the well-publicized recession-driven lag in household formations (compared to population growth), there were still 4.6 million more households in 2013 than in 2005

Ara Hovnanian, Chairman, President and CEO of Hovnanian Entreprises commented: “We continue to believe the housing industry remains in the early stages of a recovery. Improving demographic and employment trends should result in a more robust housing market that returns both national housing starts and sales pace per community to normalized levels.”

If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com.

Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International RealtySotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International RealtyAffiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated

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