The housing bubble has been inflated because of the media… PERIOD!

Think about it. People watch the nightly news or pick up a copy of their local newspaper and it’s “doom and gloom” everywhere you turn!

But do you remember back a few years ago when it was “the hottest real estate market” in history? The truth of the matter is that the “housing bubble” that everyone was panicking over is more hype than it ever was reality!

If you actually take just a few moments to do a little research and come to your own conclusions, you’ll see that the media is defining our market not necessarily the facts.

Sure… no one would disagree that the housing market has slowed across much of the country and that some areas are harder hit than others. Of course, if you’re in one of the areas that was hardest hit, you still may very well be feeling the pinch.

Keep in mind, appreciation rates of 15%-20%-30%+ is NOT NORMAL, nor was it ever expected to stay that high. There was never any thought that those rates of appreciation could be sustained. And it is in the markets with the highest spikes, that the biggest “hits” have occurred, or as some suggest, the “housing bubble” has burst (or is at the very least, slowly deflating!)

That may not console someone that “speculated” during the hot years and is now paying the price with loss of income or a possible foreclosure.

However, if you take a peek at the real numbers, it may put things into perspective and debunk the housing bubble drama that the press has been blowing out of proportion. To put the “decline” into perspective, nationwide home prices are up 29.2 percent over the past three years and 64.3 percent over the past five years. That should be enough to comfort consumers who might be worried about the value of their homes, say Business Week Magazine analysts.

If you have been hit in your market, there are several factors that suggest that housing is looking better, after a year when a slump has had a hold on not only housing but also economic growth in general.

Here are some of the signs that things are starting to look up:

• Sales of new homes soared 16.2 percent in April, the largest monthly gain in 14 years, reaching an annual rate of 981,000.
• Total single-family sales – both new and existing – during the first four months of the year have averaged 5.5 million, about the same pace as in the final four months of last year.
• Through May 25, the four-week average of applications for new mortgages was at its highest level since early 2006, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

There are several things to keep in mind.

1. Real Estate markets are local, so stay on top of your market;
2. The housing bubble is not going to burst. If anything, it’s simply coming back to a state of equilibrium; and
3. Get to the bottom of the media story! Do your own research and use it to your advantage (While the media’s scaring your competition out of the market, you should jump in and take hold)

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