Of the 184 homes that sold in July, 57 were bank owned and 40 were short sales. Distressed sales made up nearly 53% of the home sales in July. Of the 275 homes pending, 142 are short sales or foreclosures (52%). Of the 1751 homes for sale, 397 are distressed (22%). The average days on market before selling was 229 for the short sales, 134 for the bank owned homes, and 144 for traditional sales. If you're a first time home buyer hoping to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit, this is important to think about.
In order to get the credit you must close on the purchase of your home before December 1, 2009. With the average days on market for short sales at 229, if you're considering purchasing a short sale but haven't already written an offer, it might be too late. Even with foreclosures and traditional sales, you might not have as much time as you think. Multiple offers are very common right now with well priced homes. It's not out of the question to think that you might have to submit 2-3 (or more) offers before one finally gets accepted. Many buyers in the lower price ranges have been beaten out numerous times by higher offers or cash offers with a quicker closing date. If the $8000 tax credit is important to you, don't wait until the last minute to start making offers. You'll need a minimum of 30 days to close, and with lending guidelines becoming stricter, it could even be 45 days.
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