Homebuying warms up in many parts of nation

By Derek Kravitz and Alex Veiga
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Five years after the U.S. housing bust sent sales and prices plunging, the spring homebuying season is pointing to a long-awaited recovery.

Reduced prices, record-low mortgage rates, higher rents and an improving job market appear to be emboldening many would-be buyers. Open houses are drawing crowds. A wave of foreclosures is leading investors to grab bargain-priced homes.

And many people seem to have concluded that prices won’t drop much further. In some areas, including King County, house prices have begun to tick up.

“The fear factor is all but gone,” said Mark Prather, a broker at ERA Buy America Real Estate in La Palma, Calif.

Prather says the number of prospective buyers who contacted his company last month was about 35 percent more than a year ago. Read the full article here >>