By Les Christie @CNNMoney
May 3, 2012: 11:48 AM ET
Several
housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last chance
for homebuyers to cash in on the weak housing market.
NEW
YORK (CNNMoney) -- Buying a home may never get any cheaper than this.
Several housing experts are predicting that this year will be the last
chance for bargain hunters to cash in on the best deals of the weak
housing market.
With home prices down 34% nationally
since 2006 and mortgage rates at historic lows, homes have never been
more affordable -- but it won't stay this way for much longer.
Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for PNC Financial Services (PNC, Fortune 500), said he expects home prices to flatten out by the third quarter and start climbing by next year.
A
number of factors will help bolster the housing market, he said,
including a decline in the number of foreclosures and continued job
growth. In addition, homebuyers will have better access to mortgages as
they get their finances in order and improve their credit scores.
Some
economists, like Trulia's Jed Kolko, expect home prices to pick up even
more quickly. Trulia's data shows that the national average for asking
prices already increased 1.4% in the first quarter of 2012, compared
with the last three months of 2011.
Foreclosures start to fade. One
major factor that will drive the trend is the cooling of the foreclosure
crisis. Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow, said that the
percentage of mortgage loans 90 days or more late, a good predictor of
future foreclosures, is "falling fast."
That percentage dropped
15% year-over-year to 3.1% through the end of 2011, according to the
Mortgage Bankers Association. And the decline is accelerating: More than
70% of the decline came in the last three months of the year.
In some markets hit hard by foreclosures, the turnaround in prices is already underway. Phoenix
recorded an 8.4% jump in home prices during the three months ended
April 30, compared with the three months ended January 31, according to
Clear Capital.