After banking crisis, the housing market faces even more uncertainty

Source: Marketplace — 

New data from the National Association of Realtors showed a 14.5% increase in home sales in February, a huge increase relative to expectations.

Existing home sales have gone down consistently every month for an entire year now. Inventory has also been at historic lows. While today’s data may be good news for the industry, it comes against a fresh backdrop of bank collapse and general recession anxiety.

Robert Padilla and his wife Patricia have been looking for a house to buy in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for about a year.

“It’s just the two of us, but we have family that we’d like they come down to visit us,” Padilla said. “So we wanted a three bedroom, two bath.”

But there hasn’t been much to look at in their price range — which is about $350,000. Padilla works as a security guard for public schools. The houses they’ve seen have been disappointing.