Just as the busiest season of the year for residential real estate gets underway for springtime, fresh data from a variety of convincing and reliable sources gives the market renewed hope. While home prices have indeed deteriorated, the silver lining underlying all that vanquished equity is that prices are now very attractive to buyers. Most of the inflation that artificially fueled the housing bubble was dangerous, toxic, and not at all sustainable. Now that the excess has been wrung out of prices, the real estate market appears poised for renewed health and vigor. As realistic values return to the market, so do buyers, and that is always good news for home values.

At the same time, banks – which have hamstrung the market for several months by freezing credit at a time when it was needed the most – are feeling more confident. They are beginning to lend again for mortgages and mortgage refinances, and the fees that they charge are going back down to more moderate levels after a period that saw them get prohibitively steep.

Consider, for example, that two longstanding records were recently shattered – one for home affordability and the other for low interest rates. The Federal Home Loan Corporation or “Freddie Mac” reports that mortgage interest rates are currently the lowest since Freddie Mac began keeping records back in 1971. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) starting compiling a different type of statistic during that same year, namely an index that measures the overall affordability of homes. Right now the Home Affordability Index shows that American homes are more affordable than they have been since the NAR starting indexing those figures nearly 40 years ago.

Adding to the credibility of the NAR data, Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index – which is one of the most closely-watched barometers of the real estate market – shows that home prices are about 30 percent lower than they were when the real estate bubble burst back in 2006. So although mortgage lenders are requiring higher down payments and better credit, those who qualify for loans are rewarded with prices that fully reflect real value – not inflated equity fanned by speculation and predatory lending practices.

Mortgages to finance the purchase of new homes or to do a refinance in order to get lower monthly payments are now available across the USA at interest rates that are dipping below five percent. That is a whole point less than they were a year ago, and it is causing a huge surge in the volume of mortgage applications. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, record numbers of Americans are seeking new loans and refinances while rates are still so affordable. So many applications are being processed, in fact, that banks are having to gear up for the brisk business activity by hiring more underwriters and installing faster loan processing computers and software applications. One of the largest lenders in the nation is now Bank of America – which bought up the remaining assets of failed Countrywide Mortgage last year. CEO Ken Lewis – who heads Bank of America – recently announced that his company has increased its capacity by hiring 5,000 more employees to help manage the increase in mortgage loan business.

But the private sector is not the only proactive force helping to give the real estate market a boost, of course, because government interventions and strategies are being aggressively implemented. The Fed is investing at a furious pace – spending about $1.5 trillion to buy up mortgage-backed securities, for example, in order to make home loans more affordable and encourage banks to make more loans. President Obama has launched the Making Home Affordable program under the management of HUD, which will enable many distressed homeowners to rework or modify their existing mortgages. Under this kind of loan modification plan lenders may reduce monthly payments, extend amortization periods to stretch out the repayment period for loans, or even agree to reduce principal balances to significantly lower amounts. The government is offering cash incentives to lenders to participate in this kind of foreclosure prevention initiative, and if it succeeds in stopping foreclosures that will help to stabilize real estate prices and reduce the number of unsold homes coming on the market.

Another huge incentive already underway is the $8,000 tax break offered to taxpayers who are buying a home for the first time in three or more years. Many Americans have been waiting to see which way real estate prices and mortgage rates were headed, but this new emergency IRS benefit gives them confidence and provides a solid reward that they can take to the bank.   Everyone is watching pennies this year, and an $8,000 perk on top of historically cheap mortgages and super affordable home prices is highly alluring. That means that as the weather improves for spring, so should the real estate market.

For competitive mortgage rates and expert help with all your real estate buying and selling needs contact GayRealEstate.com and GayMortgageLoans.com. The members of these networks are dedicated to supporting the GLBT community. Or call toll free at 1-888-420-MOVE (6683).

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Jeffery Hammerberg is Founder and President of Gay Real Estate, Inc. – the nation’s largest group of companies connecting gay & lesbian home buyers and sellers to gay, lesbian and gay friendly real estate agents. Since 1997, Hammerberg has created a virtual real estate marketplace for the LGBT community.

Photo credit: www.GayRealEstate.com.