After nearly a decade of disaster that reached levels of despair not seen since the Great Depression, 2013 was more than a turnaround year.  Within its short life, it changed housing from a liability to an asset so favorable that it had the power to take the rest of the nation’s economy along for its ride upward.

In some ways, it changed the housing economy for years to come.  Like a human life, its true place in history won’t be known until it is gone and some time has passed, but it will be hard to argue with the hard numbers achieved in 2013.

Through the third quarter of 2013, more than 3 million homeowners returned to positive equity and homeowner equity increased by $33 billion.  Some 7.1 million homes, or 14.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, were still in negative equity at the end of  the second quarter of 2013.  This figure is down from 9.6 million homes, or 19.7 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage, at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to CoreLogic.

Stamford’s story shows that on average, single family home values increased by 4% over 2012.  Currently, we are extremely low on inventory up to $800,000,  and at “more normal levels” from $800,000 to $1,500,000.  Right now, buyers are definitely on the “hunt” and even with mortgage rates expected to increase in 2014, they are hovering around 4.5 percent.

Bottom Line … Low Inventory + Low Mortgage Rates = A Good Time To Sell!

Was 2013 a good year for you?  What are you hoping 2014 will bring?  Here’s wishing that the year to come brings you even better returns than the year past.

Adopted from an article in RISMedia