The 2006 Real Estate Year in Review

The 2006 numbers have been tallied, and it turns out that it was a bit of a cool year. Overall, real estate prices continued to trend upward, but at a much slower rate than in previous years.

What will 2007 hold? Of course, real estate agents and brokers are nervous. They and the folks in the mortgage industry will be watching Fed rates closely in the coming year. The days of easy refinances and quick sales seem to be gone for now. But those professionals who evolve with this current market, rather than clinging to the 'good old days' of just a couple of years ago will continue to do just fine.

In trying to predict the 2007 real estate market, those in the real estate industry are doing some interesting dances. The National Association of Home Builders reverses themselves in two back-to-back articles. On January 15, 2007, they write the optimistic article "Eye On the Economy: Home Sales May Be Firming Up." Just a week later, they draft an article titled "Recent Reports to Fed Show More Cooling in Housing Markets."

The National Association of Realtors is covering itself in a similar fashion. On January 25, 2007, they lead with the article "Existing-Home Sales Ease, Supplies Tighten." On February 1, they write "Pending Home Sales Index Rises." One can't help but wonder if these conflicting reports are drafted with the idea that one set goes to home sellers and the other to home buyers, as the broker or agent sees fit.

	EXISTING HOME PRICES	PERCENT CHANGE	AVERAGE PRICE
2002	$166,200	7.6	$208,400
2003	$180,200	8.4	$225,000
2004	$195,200	8.3	$245,800
2005	$219,000	12.2	$267,400
2006	$222,000	1.4	$269,600