Let me start this particular blog post by stating that I am here to provide relevant information about the Chattanooga and North Georgia market. My number one concern is not to produce an abundance of irrelevant posts, to up my blog numbers in the Active Rain site. Now, on to some real business. The Chattanooga Association of Realtors just released their September numbers for our area. The big news is that area sales decreased by 35% from August of this year. The market typically starts slowing down because of the time of year in September and averages about a 20% decrease. There was a 17% drop from September 2007 versus September 2006. Also, 534 homes were sold during September 2007 and 627 homes sold during September of 2006. 17% doesn't sound that bad to me when you all you hear from the media is how poorly real estate is doing throughout the United States. Is this the bubble? I truly feel like there are lots of factors that are coming into play here. I want to state this very clearly to all of the buyers that are reading this out there. NOW, is the time to buy! It is without a doubt a buyers market. The mortgage industry has pulled in the reigns on a lot of their financing, so it is a little more difficult to get your financing in place. A piece of advice on top of my "Buy Now" advice, is to please use a local mortgage lender. This will make your transaction so much smoother. I think I need to post another blog about that, because that could be several pages long. Interest rates are at historic lows and there are still plenty of options to get you in the home of your dreams. Personally, I feel like the above numbers are a simple reaction to what the media is saying. Your smart buyer sees that now is the time to buy and they are finding amazing deals out there. If you don't believe me, ask Warren Buffet. Mr. Buffet announced that he was interested in bailing out the nations largest mortgage lender, Countrywide. Countrywide has been hit probably the hardest by the downturn in the market. Now, why would one of the richest men in the world decide that he wants to get that heavily into the real estate business? Because, now is the time to buy!
Realtor Ryan, Broker
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