Source: OC Register

For many years, former UCLA economist & founding principle of Beacon Economics, Chris Thornberg was a housing bear, he had a decidedly negative outlook on housing… and he was right. 

In 2007, Thornberg told the O.C. Register that home buying was folly:  “What’s the point of buying today when you can buy it for 10 percent less in a year?” Thornberg said at the time.

However, the former housing market skeptic has become a housing market booster, telling a gathering of real estate insiders on January 12, 2012 that now is “a great time to buy a home.”

But don’t expect prices to bounce back next year, he warned. Or the year after that.  “It is definitely a long-term hold,” he said.

And, Thornberg’s forecasts have been increasingly optimistic over the past two years ago.  “I’m probably the most optimistic than I’ve been about the economy in the last eight years.”, he said.

According to the O.C. Register, Thornberg cited a host of indicators pointing to improvement:

• Durable goods orders, industrial production, imports, exports, rail car loadings and hotel occupancy rates all are up. Home and consumer delinquency rates are down.
• Commercial real estate vacancies have peaked and are starting to come down, he said.
• Personal income in Californiais up 6.5 percent. Business inventories declined just as consumer demand took off, which will spur production. Hiring, a lagging indicator, is starting to heat up, and “that’s going to continue,” he said.
• The threat from the Euro debt crisis is overblown, he maintained. At worst, it will cause a mild recession in Europe, which won’t be enough to bring down the world economy.
• Inflation? There’s “no sign of inflation at this point in time,” he said.

Thornberg cautioned that the economy isn’t out of the woods. Consumers still are overspending. A solution is needed to the federal deficit. A financial panic could derail the recovery. 

TheU.S., he said, still is far from full recovery.

But “this is going to be a good year,” he concluded. “You’re going to see pops in all sectors. Yes, there are some bumps out there. … But this is as optimistic as I’ve been in a long time.”

http://lansner.ocregister.com/2012/01/13/ex-doomsayer-its-a-great-time-to-buy-a-home/157105/

For questions about buying and selling real estate in Orange County, contact Scot Campbell.  He is the President of The Scot Campbell TEAM at Coldwell Banker-Campbell Realtors in Huntington Beach, CA.  He has been a licensed broker for over 21 years and has brokered over 1000 homes and just about every type of transaction imaginable.  On his website you can search for homes and obtain an instant home value report: www.RealtyDigestOnline.com  He can be reached at 714-960-0700 at the office, 714-336-0394 on his mobile number or via email at Scot.Campbell@ColdwellBanker.com