The Real Estate Industry after the Disaster

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) November 24, 2011 -- Having left behind devastation estimated between $7 billion and $10 billion, the recently departed but certainly unforgiven Hurricane Irene has already joined the ranks of the ten costliest disasters in U.S. history. A week after landfall, across most the eastern seaboard, stretches a train of damaged properties in need of repair, rebuilding, or restoration.

As staggering as that may be, the impact on the East Coast real-estate market may even be more dire. William Harrison, a lecturer at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, pointed out that, "There's so much downward momentum in the real estate market that this is just one more straw on the camel's back. The Northeast just had the hell scared out of it and fear has a way of translating into lower home prices." Major damage depreciates the marketability (and value) of a house, invariably shooing away prospective buyers.

Still there are encouraging signs: increasing mortgage applications, strong growth in certain markets, new home construction, a creeping positivity in consumer sentiment. All these pointing to a real estate market that is stirring back to life. A recovery from the subprime collapse may be underway, but it is still very much in its infancy. Even its most ardent cheerleader and whip cracker, Pres. Barack Obama, is guarded, cautioning that "It will probably take this year and next for us to see a slow appreciation again in the housing market."

Still, Obama has been on the backs of lenders to avoid foreclosures by helping homeowners retool their repayment terms and has had his managers scrambling for new ways to resuscitate the housing market.

Meanwhile, potential roadblocks are still up: fears of another economic downturn, weak employment, record-low interest rates that have surprisingly failed to kick up demand in the market, even another devastating hurricane.

Between now and full recovery, real estate professionals have been urged to be proactive and be ready when the market does recover. Online real estate schools in the U.S., like Agentcampus.com, are offering real estate continuing education (CE) and real estate courses for licensure exams and license renewals.

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