RISI Predicts Housing Affordability To Improve 15% By Early 2008
BOSTON, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ — RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced that the RISI Housing Affordability Index is expected to drop to nearly 11% in early 2008. The Index — the mortgage interest payments share, on a median-priced home, of average household disposable income — has already dropped below 13% this year as interest rates and housing prices fell. This Index is expected to continue a downward trend throughout 2008 as a result of the combined impact of even lower interest rates and further declines in median housing prices. Another strong indicator that the Index will continue to drop is the fact that while housing markets are off, the US economy itself has been surprisingly robust, meaning people will eventually look to capitalize on lower costs and interest rates.
“We expect that by the second quarter new home inventories will be back to more manageable levels. This, combined with improving affordability and growing pent-up demand will begin to reverse the recent collapse in housing markets,” said Paul Jannke, Senior Vice President, Wood and Timber Information at RISI. “We expect the recovery will accelerate latter in the year, and by November 2008, conventional housing starts will be back up to around 1.40 million units, which means that by this time next year things will be looking up.”
The Housing Affordability Index can be found in RISI's Lumber and Wood Panel Forecasts, which provides a comprehensive assessment and long-term outlook for North American markets. Published quarterly, these Forecasts cover key concepts like supply, demand, imports/exports and prices. For more information or to order RISI's Lumber and Wood Panel Forecasts, please visit www.risiinfo.com, or call (+1) (781) 734-8900.
About RISI
RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the wood products, timber, and pulp and paper industries to help them make better decisions.
Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Charlottesville, Virginia; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; and Singapore. More information can be found at www.risiinfo.com.
Contact:
Dan Blenk
Marketing Manager
Wood & Timber Information
4 Alfred Circle
Bedford, MA 01730 U.S.A
Tel: 781.734.8942
dblenk (at) risiinfo (dot) com
SOURCE RISI
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