Statistically, the leveling off of the [tag]housing market[/tag] is apparent. Nationally, sales of existing homes rose in February by 5.2 percent from the previous month, but that came after five months of decline and was still 0.3 percent below a year ago, according to the [tag]Realtor[/tag]‘s association’s most recent figures. (Existing home sales in Polk County dropped nearly five percent in February, compared to a year ago.)

Some observers point out several unknowns, such as a possible rise in [tag]interest rates[/tag], which would offset other factors that would help builders in places such as Florida, where hundreds of thousand of people move each year. [tag]Freddie Mac[/tag], the mortgage company, reported that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.49 percent for the week ending April 13. That was up from 6.43 percent last week and the highest since mid-July of 2002.

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