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Rents are also on the increase, rising 5.6 percent nationally, year-over-year. Rents have steadily increased as people who lost their homes in the crash became renters. At the same time, high unemployment and tight credit sidelined would-be homeowners.

Relief for strapped renters may be in sight, however. Construction of multi-family buildings increased last year. These new rental units should start coming to market later this year, giving renters more choices and less competition.

Boston Housing Prices Already Bottomed

Nationwide, asking prices of homes for sale is up 0.5 percent for April, marking the 3rd consecutive month of rising asking prices.

According to the Trulia Price Monitor, 44 out of the 100 largest metro areas nationwide had year-over-year price increases, with 92 percent showing quarter-over-quarter increases.

New Boston Housing Also Recovering

New Boston housing starts are more than 30 percent higher than their low in early 2009, and asking prices on those new for-sale homes have risen for three months in a row.

Localized risk of a brief downturn in prices does exist due to the pending foreclosures that could set prices back in the downward direction, but it’s believed that would be a short term setback for prices.

Since we’re in an election year, we’re not likely to see any new bold housing stimulus plans out of Washington. The political atmosphere is too charged for agreement on major housing policy issues now. And, because the market is now recovering, there’s less of a sense of urgency than there was several years ago.

We’d love to know what you think. Are Boston housing prices finally on the upswing, or do you still see prices dropping? As you well know, real estate is very local, and there could be pockets of still diminishing prices, although the overall Boston housing outlook seems brighter. We’d love to hear your comments.

Americans continue to expect home prices to go up, with the projection averaging 1.3 percent over the next 12 months, the highest value recorded.

A high percentage (71%) of Americans still say it is a good time to buy while the percentage (15%) who said it is a good time to sell was up 1 point from March.

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist, says “consumer views of housing market conditions have become more supportive of home purchases, and sustained healthy hiring is required to help realize these improved expectations.”

Boston Economy Appears to be Increasing

The percentage of Americans who believe the economy is on the right track rose to 37 percent, a 2 point increase from the previous month and the highest level in the survey’s two-year history. Still, an even greater 56 percent believe the economy is moving in the wrong direction.

Also, 23 percent of Americans reported their household income is significantly higher than it was a year ago, while 36 percent said their household expenses are significantly higher since the same time period. Both categories rose 2 percentage points compared to March.

The expectation for average rental prices decreased slightly to 3.6 percent; in March, respondents expected rent to go up by 4.1 percent over the next 12 months.

If respondents were to move, 32 percent said say they would rent while 64 percent said they would buy. The percentage of those who said they would rent increased 2 points and reached the highest level since November 2011.

With the Boston economy and home value confidence apparently increasing, would you say things are on the right track, or moving in the wrong direction? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

There are a lot more mistakes to avoid when getting your Boston home ready to sell and we can help you avoid them. Contact us for more information and a free, no-obligation consultation about the current Boston real estate market.

Home sales have now posted year-over-year gains in each of the last nine months. But in almost all of those months, the number of homes for sale has declined.

3 Reasons to Explain Why Boston Housing Inventories Have Fallen:

1. With home prices down by one-third from their peak, who wants to sell a house right now if they don’t have to? That’s especially true for the roughly 15% of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage.
    
2. Banks have decelerated the foreclosure process after they were caught routinely passing off bogus documents to demonstrate ownership. That has slowed the pace at which they’re putting Boston homes back up for sale.
    
3. While investors initially were buying up Boston foreclosures that could be fixed and flipped, or resold, for a quick profit, over the past two years, more investors have been buying inexpensive homes that can be rented out. Those homes are, for the most part, out of the for-sale pool for the near-term.

Boston Housing Inventories Down Only Temporarily?

Of these three reasons for Boston housing inventories to be down, the first two would imply that the downturn in listings is artificial, and possibly temporary. But the role of investors in today’s market could make the drop more lasting.

The NAR report also showed that the West was the only part of the country to see a year-over-year decline in sales during the month of March. The drop was almost solely concentrated around properties priced below $100,000, where sales were down 19 percent.

Are there any other reasons you can think of that would be causing Boston housing inventories to be unusually low right now? We’d love to hear your comments.