People are always asking me if I think the real estate market is coming back. Since I just came back from my third real estate closing of the month (woo hoo!) (two in Troutman, NC), I’d have to say that yes, there is some reassuring activity out there. None of these closings were motivated by the first time or repeat buyer tax incentives, but in terms of the overall market, I’m sure that those incentives had some positive effect. But the fact that there are ready, willing and able buyers out there who simply have a change in their lives that dictates a move should make us feel better about future prospects. Granted, this is talking about the number of sales. There is still a lot of downward pressure on prices nationwide and locally- good news for buyers, not so much for sellers. Still, sellers should keep in mind that if they take less in selling their property, they will likely pay less for its replacement.
An interesting development in favor of continuing improvement in the real estate market is that until recently, for a variety of reasons we expected the mortgage rates to start edging up. However, the European debt problems have sent investors back to our shores in such a way that the outcome is a continuation of low mortgage rate availability. With reasonably good income and credit numbers, 30 year fixed rates can still be had under 5%. Don’t know how long that will last since the expectation is that the financial gurus will come up with a plan that reduces the stress from that “crisis.” If that happens in a few weeks, then we’d expect the rates to get back to an upward creep. If you’re thinking of buying, many lenders have programs that allow you to lock in a low rate for a reasonable period of time so that you have time to work through a transaction.
I think that we’re in recovery, but it will be slow and come in fits and spurts. That’s better than none at all.
