Real Estate Outlook - Indicators of Recovery

Real Estate Outlook: Indicators of Recovery, an article from Realty Times, examines some "extraordinarily positive signs" that are pointing to a recovery. Last week, new mortgage applications for home purchases and refinancings were up 77% from the same week last year. That's huge! Mortgage rates continue to average well below 5% - 4.7% last week for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. So far, nearly 600,000 homebuyers have already taken advantage of the $7,500 tax credit from last year, or the $8,000 credit for this year. The mortgage rebound is even creating a mini hiring boom. Hard-hit local housing markets across the country are making a comeback in terms of sales gains. Nationally, home prices have begun to move up again after many months of declines. http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090428_realestateoutlook.htm