Prediction: "robust" spring housing market

The planets are in alignment for a "robust" spring housing market as local consumers could experience the best buyers market in more than a decade, a Boston mortgage company said today.

Recent sales have been slumping; prices have gone sideways and down, but Summit Mortgage LLC sees a bright silver lining ahead.

"With reduced home values, historically low interest rates, and pent-up consumer demand, I think the spring real estate market will be a home run," Richard S. Fedele, Summit's chief executive, said in a statement. "We're now seeing more affordability in the housing market than we've seen in years."

In December, the volume of sales for detached single family homes fell 16.6 percent in Massachusetts, and the median selling price for a single-family dropped 5.4 percent to $335,000 when compared with the same figures in December 2005, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors has reported.

Mortgage rates, meanwhile, continue to be low by historical standards.

For the week ending Feb. 8, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported that the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.28 percent, only slightly higher than the 6.24 percent average for the corresponding week a year ago.

Freddie Mac officials expect rates to stay mostly within the 6.3 percent and 6.5 percent range throughout the year.

Combine attractive prices with attractive mortgage rates, and the result is good news, according to Summit.

"Declining home prices are behind us," Fedele said in his statement. "The spring market will be solid, and I expect some appreciation in home values by the end of the year."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)