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Good News for Housing Market

By Debe Maxwell, CRS

Real Estate Agent with Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 228209

December 17, 2008 02:16 AM

Good News for Housing Market

Now IS the time to BUY!

Being cautiously optimistic has become the 'trend' for those of us remaining in this turbulent market. Sometimes the news is so negative that we have to go a bit overboard to 'prove' that there really are points to be positive about in this market.

Alas, we have some good news--in print! In a recent article from CNBC regarding the improving U.S. housing market, key points revealed are as follows:

1. Economists believe that the market may be in recovery mode by end of second quarter '09.
2. 30-year fixed mortgages are near historic lows that have not been seen since spring, 2003, very briefly.
3. Even before the recent decline in mortgage rates, the NAR's housing affordability index was at a high for the year.
4. Sales of existing homes are down sharply from their peak in 2005 however, the annualized sales rate has steadied in Q4.
5. Inventory has decrerased from April's high of 11.2 months to 10.2 months and continues to trend downward.

Read the entire article.
Sam Zell, a real estate entrepreneur, interviewed on Squawk Box this morning, and in a recent Forbes article, says he believes that the U.S. housing recovery will begin this spring!

As well, The Wall Street Journal's recent article, "The Future of Home Prices," touts real estate as one of America's best investments.

Stay tuned for more forthcoming news with the recent decrease in mortgage rates.

Debe in Charlotte

About the author:

Debe Maxwell is a Charlotte Residential Real Estate Broker, Certified Neighborhood & Relocation Specialist, ABR & e-PRO who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of real estate in the Charlotte NC Metro Area. If you're relocating to or from any other area of the country, Debe connects you with any member of her team of relocation professionals in your destination or exit city of choice. The destination service is of no cost to you! The Maxwell House Group's quality service guarantee puts this team far ahead of the competition; providing unsurpassed customer service is their #1 priority! Debe Maxwell -- Helen Adams Realty -- 704.491.3310

Disclaimer: All information provided by this author is strictly an opinion, is not guaranteed, may be based on information collected from several sources, which may or may not be deemed reliable at the time of researching this article and may be time sensitive.

Let's go shopping for Charlotte NC homes for sale!

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Heather Goodwin

Licensed by the Louisiana Real Estate Commission - Shreveport, LA

Results That Move You

Debe, will do. I'll just use my local stats in place of yours if that's okay.

Dec 17, 2008 09:21 AM

Lanre-"THE REAL ESTATE FARMER" Folayan

Samson Properties - Bowie, MD

I don't make promises.I deliver results.SOLD HOMES

We need some good news in Real Estate. Hopefully next year,we will get more buyers to buy. With interest rates at 5%,this is a great time to buy. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.

Dec 17, 2008 09:33 AM

Judy Greenberg

Compass - Long Grove, IL

Compass- Long Grove -Buffalo Grove

That will be great. At least there is some hope

Dec 17, 2008 10:39 PM

Debe Maxwell, CRS

Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC

The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Lauren: Ditto! I'm ALL about the GOOD news!

Kelly: I'm right there with you--however, I tend to dismiss those opinions when the 'expert' tends to always be negative. Otherwise, I try to read between the lines and compare them to my own stats! One thing is for sure--our jobs are WAY harder than they normally are with all of the data compilation we're having to do in conjunction with our normal business tasks!

Heather: Absolutely--that is fine!

Lanre: Isn't that the truth! I think the interest rates are going to help, for sure!

Judy: There's always a light at the end of the tunnel--I'm just hoping that tunnel is shorter than it was 6 months ago!!

Debe in Charlotte

Dec 17, 2008 11:15 PM

Dorie Dillard Austin TX

Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX

NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Great blog! There are varing opinions but there are also varing markets around the country. It's up to us to help build consumer confidence..prices of homes and interest rates are down buyers should be buying and many are! Thanks for sharing!

Dec 17, 2008 11:52 PM

Debe Maxwell, CRS

Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC

The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Hi Dorie: Yes, there are SO many opinions--like belly buttons, we all have one! But, like you, I feel that the best thing to do is preach the positive in the hopes of building consumer confidence which is going to help turn this thing around, I feel. Thanks for stopping by!

Debe in Charlotte

Dec 18, 2008 12:28 AM

Anonymous

Debe, nice post...I really like hearing the updates that are positive.

Dec 18, 2008 03:00 AM

#17

Anonymous

Larry Bergstrom

Debe;

It's always great to hear from someone with a positive attitude. Even if the projections you mentioned don't come to pass, your words are a ray of sunshine in an all too common gray sky.

Dec 18, 2008 03:33 AM

#18

Antonio M. Cardenas Broker Associate

RE eBroker Group - San Leandro, CA. - San Leandro, CA

"The Realtors In Motion"

Debe, that is exactly what we need, good news....! Optimism, excitment about the future, positive attitude and contagious energy, we can all pull together and benefit by having our clients make more money down the road by helping them buy now. Good Timing headline Debe, Merry Christmas!

Dec 18, 2008 06:10 AM

Kelsey Barklow

Hurd Realty - Johnson City, TN

423/948-9154

Good news for the New Year. I am trying to carve some time to send an email to my SOI with this type of information. Sometimes a friendly email update is all it takes to get someone moving to buy a house. I have a closing tomorrow (please cross your fingers for me - it's been a very trying couple of days and it's not over yet!) where the buyers locked in a rate of 4.85 or something close. Awesome for them! Happy Holidays.

Dec 18, 2008 10:24 AM

Debe Maxwell, CRS

Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC

The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Unknown: Thank you and I love the positive too!

Thanks Larry! I'm hoping that, at least, part of it is on the money!

Antonio & Alexia: Thanks--we need consumer confidence back again, that's for sure!

Kelsey: Best of luck tomorrow with your Closing! It seems that those tough final days seem to be more the norm than before but, they're getting them done--be patient; it WILL happen! I just called for a review today and found it to be 4.875 too! I was thrilled for the clients. See? It's NOT all bad and the lenders ARE lending money--contrary to popular belief!

Merry Christmas to ALL! Here's to a prosperous New Year as well!

Debe in Charlotte

Dec 18, 2008 01:06 PM

Mick Michaud

Distinctly Texas Lifestyle Properties, LLC Office:682/498-3107 - Granbury, TX

Your Texas Lifestyle is Here!

Good news indeed. Now if we could get the media to report fairly with comprehensive, critical analysis instead of sensationalized headlines, we might stand a chance.

But given the track record of "mainstream" media, I won't hold my breath.

Dec 18, 2008 03:02 PM

Anonymous

Underwater in Buckeye

I'm glad all of you realtors are so happy about the "Good News". But did you really analyze the words used. Let's break it down "Economists believe that the market may be in recovery mode by the end of the second quarter of 2009"

This tells me that they have a belief that we may, not will, be in recovery mode (does this mean, are we getting ready to recover or what), it sure doesn't mean recovery in six months. I believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny as well, doesn't make them real.

Unless something is done to address the very real problem that we have 12 million households in the country where they owe more than their homes are worth, we aren't going to stop the foreclosures and short sales. And unless they are stopped, we are going to have never ending foreclosures, supplying millions of REO properties and a continued downward spiral for home prices.

Lowering interest rates is not the answer, it's part of what got us into this mess in the first place. Home inventory and prices need to stabilize where income can support the payments. And loan mods that provide a temporary rate reduction don't work either.

Wake up people, take off your rose colored glasses and face reality. Debe, I think you went way overboard to find something positive. The market sucks.

Dec 19, 2008 12:25 PM

#23

Dona Reynolds

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Stein Summers - Saint Joseph, MO

St. Joseph MO

Debe: Nice post. I too think the recovery will start in the 2nd quarter of 2009.. This is an election year and people tend to hold their purse close in election years. Like your area, our prices never escalated like many, but it goes back to supply and demand. With interest rates at all time lows I am of the opinion that the buyers will start buying. The floodgates opened just last week for the re-fi's that have already began from the low interest rates. Postive thinking, education, self promotion along with A/R will help the members to turn this market around. Yes, we still will have to do what successful Realtors should be doing anyway. Happy Holidays to you and Ray!

Dec 19, 2008 12:46 PM

Mick Michaud

Distinctly Texas Lifestyle Properties, LLC Office:682/498-3107 - Granbury, TX

Your Texas Lifestyle is Here!

To Underwater:

Yes, like the outlook you've presented, the market does suck. Doesn't mean its going to from here on out. Psychology plays a bigger part than reality.

Having said that, I subscribe to a couple of very contrarian investment reports and they've been pooh-poohing the "sunshine" that's been sold for the past 12 months. Their recommendations have made a boat load of money in riding the markets down. Now they've changed their tune and have start issueing "buy" recommendations in key market sectors.

Analysis has shown that the stock market floor of about 8000 pts has held on several attemps to break it. Trend analisys and volatility metrics have stablized.

So yes, there seems to be real indications we've hit bottom. However, being a commodities trader, it could be a false positive. You never know until after the fact.

One more item. Just because someone is upside-down in their homes doesn't mean they will dump it or go bankrupt. Yes, we have alt-A and 5 year ARMs coming up, and the Credit Card crisis and the confidence factor, so there is a very real possiblity that this could really tank.

However, saying "this market sucks" accomplishes what? How can we benefit from that knowledge? Any successful investor needs market movement, not direction. So as long as the markets are headed somewhere, smart money will profit from that movement.

Dec 19, 2008 12:56 PM

Debe Maxwell, CRS

Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC

The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Mike: That's SO true! The funny thing--all of these came from the media and in the interview on CNBC, many more positive comments were actually made than I wrote! I was pleasantly surprised.

Underwater in Buckeye: Not to sound negative but, it appears that your glass is half-empty--with your negative name and negative comments, it's no wonder that you view the market as so horrible. Perhaps your area is different than ours? Perhaps your attitude could be amended to stive for success and you will achieve it?

If you listened to the interview or read the articles, you would definitely NOT look at this recent news as negative. Also, when you shave one month off of your market absorption (NOT add to it), your market is improving, not 'sucking.'

I heard speculation that our market (not the national market, OUR market) was turning downwards in early summer of '07. I immediately ramped up my marketing and began tweaking my business model. With each and every month, I strategize the upcoming month's plans (NOT year's) and keep statistics on a daily basis. Perhaps that could be the reason that my NET income has more than doubled in 2008--and I still have Closings yet to go this month. Granted, I've worked twice as hard this year and spent more money than in previous years but, I was NOT going to approach my game plan with a half-empty glass.

Had I let my attitude go in that direction, I would have simply closed up shop and gone back into nursing. Believe me, it would have been FAR easier and MUCH less work!

Hi Dona: Thanks and yes, success is achieved when we do what we need to do for our business. It is my opinion that my clients (both past, current and potential) need to gain some confidence back and EVERY four years, we have this lull. This year, obviously, has been much different and a much longer lull but, to be successful, we must overcome the negatives and focus on the positives! Merry Christmas to you and yours too! Here's to a wildly successful 2009!

Debe in Charlotte

Dec 19, 2008 01:22 PM

Debe Maxwell, CRS

Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC

The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Hi Mike: You are realistically optimistic, aren't you?! I tend to have to be pulled down from my positive podium at times but, I also know that negativity doesn't get you anywhere in life.

I choose to learn the numbers, study the numbers and attack my business model WITH those numbers! For instance--right now, I'm selling alot of investment properties--there are alot of folks that can't get mortgages out there because they have homes to sell in their exit cities. So the rental market is strong. I don't want to be a property manager so, I have partnered with one to assist my investor clients with managing their newly purchased properties. My investors are not my old-style of investors either--they are primary residence owners ONLY--who are tired of the volitility in the stock market and decided to put their savings into real estate! I have to count on my property manager partner to guide me with the rental rates so that I can assist my investor clients achieve that positive cash flow that they're looking for.

Not only is that helping the market rebound with Closings on some of these first-time sellers homes (so that they can move up and the snowball effect begins) but, they're bringing back that 'lost' consumer confidence!

Thanks for your comment, Mike!

Debe in Charlotte

Dec 19, 2008 01:32 PM

Don Rogers

Keller Williams Realty Chesterfield - O'Fallon, MO

Realtor, Broker, CDPE, GRI, OnullFallon MO & St Charles County MO homes

Debe,

I am glad to hear some positive news hitting the media for a change. I am getting excited about our local market and can hardly wait to do the year end report comparing it to 2007. I think that we are about ready to make the turn and things are going to start looking up.

Dec 19, 2008 09:27 PM

Kathryn Gorham

Green Key Realty - Emerald Isle, NC

Emerald Isle NC Crystal Coast

Debe, Thanks for the good news. Other things I've looked at also indicate that 2009 will be the turn around year for NC. That means all those buyers waiting for the bottom it's time to step up and the rates are great too.

Dec 20, 2008 12:15 AM

Debe Maxwell, CRS

Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC

The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Hi Don! That's what I'm hearing and believe me, holding onto!! The best for you in 2009, Mr. President!

Kathryn: You're welcome! I feel like those buyers are already starting to step up and they are smart to do so--these interest rates aren't going to stay this low forever!

Merry Christmas