I will have the April and YTD Montgomery County sales figures for you on Tuesday. They just came out and I will digest them over this long weekend. In the interim I would like you to ponder the following.
There are four major resources that monitor home sales and prices. They are NAR (National Association of Realtors), OFHEO (Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight), S&P/Case-Shiller Index and Realogy. Of these four major entities only one, yes only one says that home prices are dropping. Overall they reported that US home prices rose 0.6% from January to February of this year. They reported that eight of the ten major housing areas showed increases and only two showed decreases. That isn't what you are hearing on the news though is it. Of course not. Good news isn't news. Only bad news is news.
Historically real estate prices have a standard deviation of +/- 4%. That means from year-to-year the value of your home will increase or decrease no more than 4%. Have you looked at what our savings account or CD is paying right now? I will bet it is not half of that. Where else can you invest your money and be almost guaranteed of good steady growth? Why would you keep renting and throw that money away? Why are you waiting while interest rates are historic lows yet rise a little each week? Are homes sales still down? Yes. Why? Because people in my humble opinion keep listening to the badly reported news rather than listen to good advice.
Those of us in Texas must wake up and realize that we are in good economic shape. We must not let a few small pockets of bad real estate markets dictate what we do. Spend some time on the internet looking at the available listings and see what great bargains are available. It is amazing. Stop being like a pregnant elephant that has a gestation period of 22 months and make a positive home selling or guying decision today. I promise you will not regret the decision.
Do I sound desperate? Sorry I'm not. Had a great sales and listing week. I do though want you, my readers to know what is really going on and not have you rely on biased news reporting.
I would like you to all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I would also ask that you remember the true purpose of this holiday, to remember all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives in defense of our great country. I have two sons currently serving in the US Army. One is in Iraq and the other is under orders for deployment to Afghanistan. I ask that you remember not only those who have given their lives for us but also those who currently sacrifice their safety for us.
God Bless all of you.
Ron