Improving economic data and government-policy developments have led Bank of America/Merrill Lynch to call for the long-awaited bottom in housing prices this year.
The firm tweaked its forecast from November, when it expected home prices to fall 3.5% in 2012. Now, it expects a modest gain of 0.5%, a good sign for the sector that continues limping through its worst downturn in generations.
Still, “along with the earlier bottom is a slower recovery,” the firm warns. It expects home prices to gain 2.8% in 2014, solidly below its prior estimate of 8.1%. Its prediction for 2020 remains roughly the same, when it expects beaten-down home prices to have recovered by 42%.
full story: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/03/22/elusive-bottom-for-home-prices-near-forecast-says/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_Real%20Estate_BLOGSDEVELOPMENTSFEED
Friday, March 23, 2012
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