Did you know?

 After expanding rapidly over the past couple of years, economic growth is moderating – and this is actually good for housing. Most economists predict that overall GDP growth will average about 2.5 percent for the rest of the year. That means that job growth will continue to move forward at a pace that should not trigger higher inflation rates or higher interest rates. This period of moderate economic growth, job creation, and low inflation, coupled with a true buyer’s market, makes this an ideal time to build, remodel or improve your home. Donald, L. Kohn, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board agrees that housing may be stabilizing. “Tentative signs have begun to emerge that the housing market may be stabilizing,” Kohn said. “Home sales appear to have flattened out since midyear, mortgage applications have been increasing, and consumers’ perceptions of home buying conditions, as reported in a recent Michigan survey, have improved.” “Conditions appear to be in place for a good year for the U.S. economy. One marked by growth that is moderate and sustainable, and by inflation that will be lower than last year’s,” he said. Americans remain highly confident about the value of homeownership and the nation’s housing market.

• The homeownership rate in the United States is 69 percent.
• More than four out of five home owners expect the value of their home to appreciate over the next five years, according to an National Association of Home Builders’ survey conducted in October, 2006. 
• Nearly seven out of 10 call their home their most valuable investment. 
• Price is the most significant factor in home buying decisions, with 80 percent ranking it as number-one. 
• Seventy percent of Americans said interest rates were likely to affect their decision whether or not to buy a home. 
• Homeownership is a cornerstone of household wealth in America. Homeowners under 40 with incomes between $20,000 and 50,000 have ten times the median net wealth of renters. 
• Almost 85 percent of households with family income at the national median or above are homeowners. 
• Americans have $11.2 billion in equity in their homes. 
• Affordability continues to present the most serious challenge to achieving the American dream. The NAHB’s Housing Opportunity Index indicates that 40.4 percent of all new and existing homes that were sold during the third quarter of 2006 were affordable to families earning the median U.S. income of $59,600. 
• The Midwest has the highest homeownership rate, at just under 73 percent. The South ranked second at 70 percent, and the Northeast and West were lowest, each with a homeownership rate of about 65 percent.
• Homeownership rates are highest for Americans 65 years and older at 81.5 percent. Just 43 percent of Americans under 35 are homeowners. 

Today’s buyer’s market puts you in the driver seat on the road to homeownership. There has never been a better time to build, remodel, or improve your home.  

Sources: Nation’s Building News, NAHB survey, U.S. Census Bureau, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University