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The stalled economy, expiration of homebuyer tax credits, marked-down home prices, stubbornly high unemployment and concerns abo

admin2013-07-02  69
问题     The stalled economy, expiration of homebuyer tax credits, marked-down home prices, stubbornly high unemployment and concerns about a double-dip recession all leave prospective homebuyers wondering if now is the time. Is it time for renters to convert to buyers and for existing owners to grab that dream home on the cheap? Or will housing get even cheaper?

    Buyers who are eyeing condos(分户出售的公寓大厦)and townhomes in particular might want to check out Trulia’s latest rent-vs. -buy index, which tracks 50 of the country’s largest markets. It offers a breakdown on cities that offer the best buying opportunities and those that are still renters’ markets.
    The firm calculates the price-to-rent ratio by comparing the average listing price of a condo or townhome with the average rental rate of two-bedroom apartments and con-dos on Trulia. Basically, the calculation takes the median price of the condo in a market and divides it by the annual rental payments generated on a similar property.
    Nelson says she was particularly surprised that condos in Omaha, Fort Worth and Kansas City were more expensive to own than to rent. She attributes this to lower unemployment rates and affluent families paying up, which kept condo prices up. Some cities avoided the housing bubble, she says, another reason prices have held.
    Still, even if the broad rent-vs. -buy ratio favors renting, prospective buyers should take into account other factors, such as how much prices have fallen from their peak, potential tax advantages and the length of time the buyer plans to live in the property, Nelson cautions. For someone who isn’t looking to flip the property for a quick buck — those days are over, aren’t they? — and plans to stay in a home for 10 years or until they’re hauled off to the grave, buying now could make financial sense even in some of the renters’ markets, she says.
    In recent months, there have been signs that housing may finally be bouncing a-long the bottoms. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite home-price index shows prices rose, albeit modestly, for the past few months, and some major lenders, such as Bank of America, GMAC Mortgage and JPMorgan Chase, have put foreclosures on hold in 23 states over record-keeping issues. All of this indicates price declines may stall — at least temporarily.
    But Alex Barron, founder of Housing Research Center LLC, remains bearish(看跌)on buying. He expects prices to fall another 10% to 30% before the sector bottoms out. Inventory has increased since the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, he notes. Barron speculates that once mortgage rates start ticking up, home prices will likely tumble. "Prices will correct 10% for every one percentage point the mortgage rate goes up," he says.
    Foreclosures are also pressuring prices. Barron notes that bank repossessions totaled 718,000 in the first eight months of 2010, up 23% from the record 584,000 during the same period a year ago. He speculates that once the current foreclosure suspension is lifted, a flood of foreclosures could hit the market. That added supply will likely cause another correction in home prices.
What does Alex Barron think of the prices of houses?
选项 A、The prices will stop declining for a short time.
B、The prices will continue bouncing along the bottom.
C、The prices will go up with the mortgage rates.
D、The prices will fall again before touching the bottom.
答案D
解析 观点态度题。第七段提到Alex Barron对房市看跌，他预计房市在跌到谷底之前还会再降10％至30％，故[D]项正确。[A]项是第六段中提到的各种迹象显示房价会停止下跌，不是Alex Barron的观点，故错误。[B]项也是第六段中提到的近几个月的迹象表明房价可能最终会在谷底波动，不是Alex Barron的观点，故错误。原文提到抵押贷款利率上升，房价就可能下降，[C]项是对原文的错误理解，故排除。
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