January a housing market “turning point”

On the heels of CB Richard Ellis’ optimistic report on the New York City office investment market, Radar Logic said today that January was a “turning point” for the nationwide housing market. In its January 2010 RPX Monthly Housing Market Report, Radar Logic said it expects transaction volume to pick up and home prices to recover this spring, after the first month of the year showed year-over-year transaction volume improvement — there were approximately 14,000 more deals in January 2010 than the same month a year earlier. This could have a strong effect on home prices, the report says. While January also saw a 30 percent month-over-month decline in transaction volume, Radar Logic said this was attributable to standard seasonal adjustments and not systemic market instability. “Radar Logic argues that late January has historically marked the turning point from declines or slow growth,” the report says. TRD