Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides rental assistance. It is provided mostly through its different rental programs. Through the public housing program, HUD offers rental assistance to the disabled, elderly and low income families. HUD grants are given to local housing agencies for the public housing program. The US has around 3,300 housing agencies that provide cover to about 1.2 million households.
Trying to pinpoint those areas doing the best in terms of real estate performance is difficult. No matter where you look in the nation, it seems that high sales volumes inevitably fall off and the recession sinks its claws back into the market once more. However, the nation’s capital might just be leading the country into recovery, at least in the real estate market.
Established in 1937, the US Housing Authority or the United States Housing Authority (USHA) was set up with the objective to build housing infrastructure for low-income homebuyers. After its initial success at providing assistance to 650,000 low-income people to own a home, it has relentlessly been upgrading housing infrastructure and improving amenities for the benefit of people.
Many financial experts, housing market gurus and real estate moguls have been touting the end of the recession and the beginning of recovery for the housing sector. While some of that enthusiasm might be warranted, giving the improved employment outlook for the nation, it seems that the situation is a bit different from the rosy picture painted. January actually saw a drop in pending real estate sales, a dip of almost 4%.
If CoreLogic’s statistics are anything to go by around 11.1 million households in the US (23.1 per cent of all mortgaged homes) were underwater in the October-December quarter. This means 10.8 million households, up from 22.5 per cent, during the July-September quarter. Although the number of underwater mortgages had fallen in the previous three quarters, it was largely due to more number of foreclosures. This has put many in a quandary, preventing them from selling their homes in an already weak housing market.
Investors and real estate agents have been holding their breath and hoping for the end of the housing market meltdown for quite some time now. While there have been plateaus in the market’s decline, they seem all too short lived. However, will 2011 finally mark the end of the decline and the beginning of the recovery? Some experts are predicting that is exactly what’s happening right now.
Currently, the US commercial real estate sector is witnessing stabilization, though in most markets the rent will continue to remain soft, with the exception of multi-family rentals.
Last week saw a drop in the average interest rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage loan in the US due to lower yields on Treasury bonds. According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate on the loan dipped to 4.87 per cent from 4.95 per cent. Earlier in November 2010, it had hit a 40-year low of 4.17 per cent.
For those concerned that interest rates are going to jump up and kick off higher real estate prices, the NY Fed has a mixed message of hope and caution. The Fed expects interest rates to stay very low, at least in the short term. However, there might be changes coming down the line. The foreseeable future might just hold higher interest rates across the board.
Last week, home prices were close to their post-bust lows, with the government confirming that January saw the number of new homes dip to double digits. Yale economist Robert Shiller made a sobering remark when he spoke about the substantial risk of home prices dropping by 15-25 per cent.
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