The perfect moment for an investment in a golf community home would be when prices hit absolute bottom nationwide, in every market. But the housing market does not work that way; housing price movements are local, a consequence of many factors, employment levels chief among them. When prices hit bottom in one market, they can be still falling or even rising in others.
Clear Capital, a firm that uses high tech data collection to predict housing market movements, believes that U.S. housing prices will stabilize in 2012, actually rising .2% nationwide, but that individual markets will show marked differences. According to the Clear Capital data, folks currently living in the Washington, D.C. area, for example, might not want to sell their homes and move until later in the year, since D.C. area prices are forecast to increase 8.3% year over year. For D.C. area residents contemplating a move to Atlanta, forecasted for the biggest housing price decreases in 2012 (-14.4%), patience could be rewarded especially.
On the other hand, folks in the Detroit area contemplating a move to Orlando should consider a hasty retreat (if they can sell their home). Detroit’s housing market will continue to erode, according to Clear Capital, with home prices dropping another 5.6% year over year, while Orlando home prices will jump 11.7%.
Note: On Thursday, we will release the January edition of our eNewsletter, Home On The Course, which reaffirms the case for home prices hitting bottom in most southern U.S. areas. We also rate a few of our favorite golf communities for their investment potential. Sign up today at the top of this page and you will receive a copy of this month’s Home On The Course and all future issues (or if you sign up after we send the newsletter, we will make sure you get a copy).