As we approach the new year, I won't dispute the fact that these are trying times.  We are all hoping that with the inaugaration of the new president, that sentiment about the welfare of the country and the economy will improve.    I believe that it will, and that although we face a difficult climb out of this hole that we're in....it could be worse.  As the numbers in the market trends report show, things are improving some in the real estate market.  Based on the time of year the numbers are really quite good.  It took a global economic meltdown for our local market to experiance a price correction, and that correction has been 3-8%, depending on what segment of the market you look at.  This really bodes well for both property owners as well as buyers in our area.  While other markets have declined by as much as 50%, ours has remained strong, a clear sign that it will be strong in any recovery.

The sense that I get from almost all of my clients is that there is a lot of pent up demand (buyers waiting for the bottom), and barring any unforseen catastrophies, I think that we are very near that bottom.  I have seen a big increase in people searching the MLS for listings, and correspondance from my internet audience indicates that quite a few are looking aggressively, and hoping to take advantage of good deals and low interest rates in the new year.  

As you review the numbers in the report, note that inventory has come down significantly from last summer, and although home sales in Thurston county are off by 20% from a year ago...the market certainly isn't dead.  As sentiment improves, past real estate cycles have shown that we typically start with a bang.  All of the "really good deals" get snapped up very quickly.  Although timing is not a method that I recommend, "be prepared to take action" should be part of your plan.     Have a prosperous and happy new year,   Phil Sharp  

First Time Home Buyer Incentive; $7500 from the Fed: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/glance.php   .                                                       

THURSTON COUNTY

For The Period of November 1-30 2008

                             ·Data prepared by Phil Sharp, provided by NWMLS

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