Home Sales Dip? Again.
National news is reporting today that homes sales fell in April, for the 9th straight month. In April, I found buyers were more active - based on the fact that I found buyers for my homes listed in April and we closed in May.
MSNBC has the story about
home sales and home prices falling.
More locally, I'm seeing fewer homes being listed. I believe this will eventually be good for sellers because of supply and demand. With fewer homes, there will be less to choose from when buyers are ready, so eventually that will positively impact the market. When we reach that point, I believe the market will take off again.
Unless the subprime mortgage industry keeps dragging the market down.
Labels: home sales, housing market
Should I Stay or Should I Go...
I've been reading conflicting stories online about whether the market is improving or whether it's going down the toilet. I'm going to holler about how great it is!
Okay, first was an article on MSNBC.com that says this spring is the season for reckoning for the real estate market. It's the pivotal time on the market where we figure out if housing sales are going to be strong or weak because spring is typically when homes hit the market and start selling selling selling.
The article talks about how some of the big boy dominoes in the lending industry are falling: from Lennar yesterday to Countrywide last week to
New Century Financial Corp today. (I think if it wasn't so sad, the first from the Boston Herald today that says "
Call it the March Madness of Mortgages" would be funny.)
Labels: economy, home sales, la vergne real estate, smyrna real estate
Housing Big Part of Nation's Economic Wellness
MSNBC.com featured an article yesterday about Americans being spooked about the economy. The housing market, as usual, is a cornerstone of the nation's financial health. Lots of economists are watching the housing market closely this spring to see how foreclosures and regular listings are priced as they come on the market:
A lot depends on how well the housing market holds up for the coming spring selling season, usually the busiest months for home sales. A flood of new listings — on top of foreclosed homes now being prices aggressively for quick sale — could further depress the market.
Read the article here.
Labels: economy, home sales
Yeah Baby!
According to Sunday's Murfreesboro Post,
home sales are on the increase... in Murfreesboro at least. I've been seeing it as well on the west side of Rutherford County - Smyrna and LaVergne. After several very quiet months in the real estate industry, the phone has started to ring again. People are beginning to list their homes and other folks are looking to buy.
With spring, hope also blossoms for a great real estate year!
Labels: home sales
Polar Plunge for Housing
January brought more than North Pole temperatures to the nation - it also brought freezing home sales.
Brokers and real estate analysts are predicting that the glut of real estate agents on the market will greatly diminish in the next couple of years as the market kicks people out. And given the news from
CNN and
MSNBC, it may take less than two years.
According to both news venues, sales fell over 16 percent from the previous month. From MSNBC:
The monthly decline was the sharpest in 13 years, since a 23.8 percent drop-off in January 1994.
Ouch.
Labels: home sales
Sales Down?
Today, the Tennessean reported that home sales fell for the fifth time in six months when January numbers came in low. This, of course, is a reflection of the Nashville market rather than some of the surrounding counties. The report issued by the
Greater Nashville Association of Realtors also said there are more homes on the market.
In my own experiences, I am currently working with two buyers who are ready, willing and able to purchase except there are no NICE homes in their price ranges. One buyer has narrowed it to a nice neighborhood that charges a $15 per month association fee so all the lawns are mowed. We've been watching homes to hit the market and are looking at one today. The other also has a specific neighborhood with a specific price, but sellers are inflating their home prices so it's making it difficult for this single mother to find one that she considers safe, sound, and affordable.
I currently have a listing in Antioch - a 3 bedroom, 1 bath all-brick clean gem. We have received three offers on the property and I have a waiting list of two in case this buyer falls through. It is listed at $114,950 which is very affordable. So if you're thinking about selling your home, analyze the market carefully, look and see what you're competition is, and try to come in just under if you need to move your house quickly.
Here's the link to the article in today's Tennessean.
Labels: buyers, home sales
