This year will be the best year for housing in a decade, according to Freddie Mac. Aside from the long-term trends that have seen housing return to normalcy, Freddie Mac identified five things that will make 2016 the best since 2006.
• Low mortgage rates: Though rates rose in late 2015, they've since declined to just before 4 percent for a 30-year mortgage.
• The job market: Monthly job gains have netted just over 200,000 since 2011 and Freddie Mac is also anticipating wage growth.
• Household formation: Job gains coupling with the first Millennials hitting their milestones will goose household formation and put additional demand on housing.
• New construction: With demand up to historic highs and inventory low, new construction activity has been on the rise to supply the demand.
• Rising equity: Corelogic recently reported that a mere 8.53 percent of borrowers are underwater, down from 26 perncet in 2009. This trend has been spurred largely by home price appreciation.
Read more at Chicago Agent Magazine here.