Finally…

By now you may have heard, the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit has been extended for offers made by April 30, 2010 (must close by June 30, 2010).  They expanded the tax credit to home buyers purchasing a new primary home that owned their previous home 5 out of the last 8 years.  This tax credit is $6500.

This is a great opportunity for those that qualify. Interest rates are low and inventories are pretty good! Let’s go shopping in SW Washington!

 

Things are looking up…

Housing sales are up in many areas, home prices and interest rates are low.  The $8000 tax credit will expire soon (Nov 30, 2009) if the feds don’t extend it.  (“Rumors” of an extension still exist.)

Is there a down side to all this for a buyer?

Many buyers are finding they must compete with multiple offers on low end properties.  Short sales can take months to finalize, and in some cases, fall through at the last minute costing the buyer a lot of time. Foreclosed houses are typically sold “AS IS” and need repairs that disqualify them from federally backed mortgages (FHA, VA), making them “cash only” homes. Even if an offer is moving forward, appraisals have been known to fall short of sales prices causing the sale to fall through.

How can a buyer compete with these obstacles?

Study the market in the area of the home you want to buy and make a strong offer (as opposed to a low ball offer) on the home you want to increase the chance of having your offer accepted on a low priced home.

What’s on the horizon for home buying?

More change will happen in 2010 when new mortgage regulations phase into effect. See:  http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20080714a.htm

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-15/8000-tax-credits-hoops-frustrate-house-hunters/#ixzz0U72HutVH

must compete with multiple offers on bargain properties. Short sales can take months to finalize. Foreclosed houses often need repairs that disqualify them from federally backed mortgages. And, amid the free-falling prices, deal-killing appraisals often fall short of sales prices.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-15/8000-tax-credits-hoops-frustrate-house-hunters/#ixzz0U72HutVH

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-15/8000-tax-credits-hoops-frustrate-house-hunters/#ixzz0U6wboFVz

compete with multiple offers on bargain properties. Short sales can take months to finalize. Foreclosed houses often need repairs that disqualify them from federally backed mortgages. And, amid the free-falling prices, deal-killing appraisals often fall short of sales prices.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-15/8000-tax-credits-hoops-frustrate-house-hunters/#ixzz0U6wboFVz

must compete with multiple offers on bargain properties. Short sales can take months to finalize. Foreclosed houses often need repairs that disqualify them from federally backed mortgages. And, amid the free-falling prices, deal-killing appraisals often fall short of sales prices.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-15/8000-tax-credits-hoops-frustrate-house-hunters/#ixzz0U72HutVH

must compete with multiple offers on bargain properties. Short sales can take months to finalize. Foreclosed houses often need repairs that disqualify them from federally backed mortgages. And, amid the free-falling prices, deal-killing appraisals often fall short of sales prices.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-10-15/8000-tax-credits-hoops-frustrate-house-hunters/#ixzz0U72HutV

August stats are out…

Our listing inventory is at 8 months.  That’s up from July’s 7.3, but look at our pending sales!  Pending sales rose to 24.9% compared to a year ago.  (Our inventory includes all those pending sales.) Year to date our pending sales average is up 10.9%.  Closed sales increased 11.1% while new listing dropped 21.4%.  Average Market Time (how long it takes to sell a house) for August was 158 days, year to date is 162 days.

There are more stats available, but I don’t want to boggle you with all the numbers.  If you have questions, just post a comment and I’ll respond as quickly as I can.

These residential statistics are based on monthly figures reported by RMLS™ of which I am a member.

Home sales are up…

Real Estate is picking up as home sales increase.  We are seeing more and more bidding wars on the lower priced homes.  Look in the rear view mirror folks and you’ll see the bottom of house prices as they start to slide back up ever so slowly.

Investors aren’t making much money in the banks, so many of them are buying up real estate.  Many of them are pooling their assets to purchase low priced homes. These money pools enable them to offset the risk of buying homes, making it a desirable venture.  This means the regular family home buyer needs to be prepared to make a competitive offer if they want to buy a home.

No word if Washington DC will extend the tax credit as the deadline inches closer. If you want to take advantage of the tax credit, it’s best to avoid short sales and, in some cases, bank owned properties that are notorious for taking a long time to close.  On the flip side, waiting could save you as much or more than the actual tax credit.

It’s a numbers and waiting game where everyone wants to win. If you’re a home buyer, buy because you want the house so you won’t regret the purchase later. There’s nothing worse than compromising to get a deal instead of getting the house you really wanted.

July Stats Are In…

Sales activity is on an upward trend in Southwest Washington.

July’s housing inventory for SW Washington dropped to 7.3 months of inventory. That means that at the rate homes are selling, we will run out of homes on the market in 7.3 months (active listings/closed sales).

In July 2007 the inventory was 7.6 and in July 2008 the inventory was 12.7! The highest was 18.6 in February, 2009. So as you can see, our 7.3 months of inventory is a definite improvement.

When driving around you may notice that builders are starting to build again, but most of the houses are small and built on small lots.

Areas that seem to be holding their value based on the average sale price change in last 12 months are SE County at 5.6%, Cascade Park at 2%, West of I5 (near Ridgefield) at -4.2%, Battleground at -7.8% and Lincoln/Hazel Dell at -8.1%.  The average sale price change for all of SW Washington is -14%.

The average days a home is on the market for all of SW Washington is 162 days. It should be noted that short sales increase this average. A seller that wants to sell their home without a 3rd party involved may sell in a shorter time if their home is priced right. Also, it’s not uncommon right now for homes to get more than one offer on them.

It’s a great time to buy a home; however, time is running out to get in on the $8000 income tax credit for first time buyers. For more info about the SW Washington market, contact me!

These residential statistics are based on monthly figures reported by RMLS™ of which I am a member.