A new article by the Wall Street Journal suggests that the residential real estate market may be stabilizing.
Contributing to this is demand for more expensive homes and the fact that foreclosed properties are not being sold at bargain-basement rates:

Overall, home prices declined 0.7% in the first quarter of 2010 to an average of $166,100, the lowest first-quarter national median price since 2002, when the average was $158,600 according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. However, there was wide variation by region, with median prices up 9% in the Northeast and down 8% in West.

This regional variant reflects what we have observed. Check out the latest For Sale and Sold statistics for Worcester County, which include Leominster and Fitchburg:

Is it time to see if you should put your home on the market? Call us today for a Market Report at 978-537-6401 or fill out the form here.

key to housing recovery

Looking at stats is great. Numbers give any predictions that you make a more solid footing. But the thing with statistics- real estate included- is that the numbers discuss what has already occurred.
Predictions are always uncertain. Economists will look at the same numbers and come up with different conclusions- and the thing is, someone will be right. The trick is to look for someone who is right a lot of the time.
That was why I was happy to see an article in USA Today quoting Warren Buffett. Buffett has been correct enough so that I wouldn’t mind having him as my financial planner. And he knows real estate.
This is what he has to say:

“Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote Saturday in his annual letter to the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway. “Prices will remain far below ‘bubble’ levels, of course, but for every seller or lender hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits. Indeed, many families that couldn’t afford to buy an appropriate home a few years ago now find it well within their means.”

This mirrors what was suggested at the Inman Connect Conference, and is a welcome validation for what many real estate sales agents have mentioned to me.

If you want my take on what this means for you, please email me at gerry@realtyman.com or call 978-537-6401 x24. Or we can chat on Facebook- friend me.

You have a house. You need to move. Although it hurts, you have priced it where the market analysis suggests. You list it. What next?

What’s  next is probably the single most important piece of the puzzle.

If I were selling my house today, I would want to know exactly where it was being advertised. MLSPIN listings are pushed out to more than 35 different online places (including Google and Yahoo) without any extra effort of the agent or the brokerage. What extra effort goes into it?

Is this how your home is going to get sold?

Ask this question of your sales agent.

And keep this in mind- the buyer of your home will statistically be in his (or definitely her) early 30s to late 40s. This group does not scour the classified section for information, nor do they read home sales magazines in pizza parlors. They look for their information online. 90% of all home buyers this year began their exploration on the Internet.

If I were selling now, I would make sure my home was priced correctly, and I would expect offers coming in at 20% lower than asking price. Before my home was listed, I would ask my agent these things:

• Is my home listing on Realtor.com enhanced? This means it is shown to be more likely to be seen by buyers.
• Will my home listing be posted on the Internet in places other than what the MLS does?
• Does my agent have any other ways to find buyers? Is the brokerage involved in social media- Facebook and twitter? If they say yes, check it out.  Do they have a blog? These social outreach places are ways to find buyers as they are starting out.
• Does the brokerage have a presence on YouTube and are they promoting listings there? According to Social Media Revolution, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine and you want your listing there.

Even if my Uncle Harold was the family Realtor®, I would ask these same questions. In this market where average days on market is over six months, you don’t want to lose any time.

Is it time to sell?

If you are seriously thinking of selling your house, NOW is the time to get serious. So you think we are at the bottom of the market? Here are a few points to consider:

• Single Family Sales units in North Central MA are declining at a Faster rate (more than 2 times) than the same period last year.
• Single Family average Sale Prices are declining at a Greater rate than the same period last year.
• Lending standards are getting increasingly more difficult – i.e. harder to get a loan.
• Job losses are only Now starting to come into play – and there are more coming.
• The economy is eroding before our eyes.
• The foreclosure rate is increasing
• Currently we are 2-3 years before the ‘Bulk’ of the Adjustable Rate Mortgages reset (Including the Option Arms – what’s an Option Arm? Look for another post soon).
• I can go on…
Looking at these facts, is there any reason why you would think that prices are going to go up?

OK, so you are a buyer. Why Buy now? Well, 30 year Fixed Rate Mortgages (yes, FIXED – not Blend loans, Option Arms, NINJA loans, etc.) are still at 40 year lows BUT prices have been beaten up over the past 3 or so years. We are seeing prices back to levels we saw in 2003 +/- but Mortgage rates are just about as low as back then – thus setting the stage for some great affordability.

If you have a secure job, this is a great opportunity. Yes, prices may fall more, however Interest rates are almost sure to go up due (to the economy, the low value of the dollar, imminent recession, etc). So remember, small changes in the Interest rate can equate to large increases in the payment.

When I had originally written this in October of 2008, I had been reading and hearing from many sources that the bottom had been reached, and the market was going to turn around. I was NOT convinced of this, not on a National level, and certainly not locally.
Today, the advice I gave in my post holds true, I think. We have not seen the bottom yet. There is more activity- and that is good. But consider this:
Many sellers are holding back, waiting for the market to change. As soon as there is any indication of this, many will list. This added inventory will keep prices flat.
If interest rates go up even a half point from the average 30 year rate of just under 5%, this will limit the buyer pool further. A home that costs $200,000 with a monthly payment of $1073.64 under that scenario would end up costing $1135.58 at 5.5%.- a significant increase.
Questions? Call me at 978-537-6401, ext.24.