Where did the year go!!!! The holidays are just around the corner and it’s time to look back and think about next year. This year has been better then last year in terms of the market. Property values have gone down so low that it has spurred a lot of buyers to purchase instead of renting. Some areas have decreased in price to what it use to be 10 years ago. The market seems to be stabilizing and the government is trying a bunch of stuff to help.
The home buyers
tax credit has been extended to April of 2010 and it has expanded the credit to existing owners too.
There is a HUD credit counseling
website, that is designed to help people that are having a hard time with their payments.
The real estate market is still not fully recovered but there are positive signs that we are at the bottom and maybe moving up. The prices of homes fell so much that it is tempting many renters to buy a home instead of renting. The monthly payments might be the same especially when you include your tax savings. Rates are still affordable and there are many homes to choose from. The only problem we have is that many of these homes have gone down so far in price that it is creating a buying frenzy. Many of the homes that are less then $400k are getting multiple offers. Be patient because there is talk that more REO’s and Short Sales are going to hit the market next year.
For the 6th straight month, homes that are in contract has been increasing. This means more sold homes in the next couple of months. NAR chief economist says the housing market momentum has clearly turned to the better. He also expects home sales to rise through the 4th quarter of this year.
For more information, please click on the following link:
http://rismedia.com/2009-09-01/pending-home-sales-on-a-roll-up-for-sixth-straight-month/
San Francisco is experiencing an increase of sales prices for median priced single family homes. The prices rose about 3% between June and July of this year for the 4th consecutive month. The Median sales price is $785,000. The inventory is lower and there are 644 active listings for sale. And it takes less time, about 46 days, to sell the home. This is due to the availability of low interest rate loans consumer confidence and the reduction in prices.
For more information, click on the links below.
http://www.sfrealtors.com/pdf/realtor_advantage/Revised_Press_Release_August.pdf
http://www.sfrealtors.com/pdf/realtor_advantage/Revised_Market_Focus_August2009.pdf
