Jim welcomes back Rick Sharga, Chief Executive Officer of Ten-X, an online real estate marketplace. Rick notes that the real estate market nationally is still recovering slowly from the great real estate bust of ten years ago. Despite the positive aspects of extremely low-interest rates, Rick mentions a number of headwinds affecting the market currently. Those include mortgage availability (difficult to qualify), a lack of inventory in both new and existing homes, and stagnation in real wages among potential homebuyers. In addition, high levels of student debt are really hurting potential first-time homebuyers, who are having difficulty qualifying. Even for those that can qualify, the supply of suitable homes is a problem. “The lack of entry-level housing supply is pervasive across the country,” said Sharga. Rick sees the gradual recovery trend on a national level continuing, with no full real estate recovery until 2018, at the earliest.
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