Without a doubt, this year is better than last year.
But does that mean the market is really pulling out of the slump?
Here in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia (only about an hour from DC/Baltimore metro) we had a huge boom in the early 2000's, as did just about everybody else. The majority of our buyers were coming out of Maryland and Northern Virginia. Housing costs here were significantly less than those of MD & VA.
Consequently, prices rose dramatically. Demand far outweighed supply. I know, I'm not telling you anything you probably didn't experience in your market.
However, we were hearing that those living and working already in WV could hardly afford to purchase in the towns they had grown up in.
So, here we are, July 2008. Housing prices have dropped, though not as dramatically as they rose just a few years ago. Supply is huge! Demand...not so much. Being that our primary pool of buyers were commuters, the huge increase in gas has about killed us!
In fact, the majority of our recent and current buyer clients are locals! This is good news, except that home prices are still a little high for what people can qualify for. Certainly we're seeing the lower priced homes sell relatively quicker than more expensive homes, and those that are in good condition go pretty fast.
We are counseling sellers that if they don't have to sell, don't put your home on the market. And we're telling buyers that its time to get off the fence and get qualified. Start Looking!
There are so many factors to think about: gas prices, interest rates, consumer confidence, job security, the list goes on and on!
I know peaks and valleys are inevitable in the housing industry...I guess it would just be nice to look in the crystal ball and see if we're starting to climb to a peak again. Wishful thinking, huh?!!
Comments(4)