The most common question I’m asked today is “How’s The Real Estate Market?”
The most common answer I give is “Busy”. Last week alone, Roche Realty Group had 16 pending sales with a few more out there that didn’t make the list. Our company sales are up over 61% year to date. What that clearly means is that there is activity in the Real Estate Market – a lot of activity.
But what does that mean to you, the consumer or seller? As I learned when I studied statistics a long time ago, you can prove anything you want by interpreting the numbers and adding spin to get the results as you want. Although, today there are some pretty straightforward trends or market characterizations. These are my feelings as to where we are now:
1. Real Estate is selling- the number of transactions is up.
2. Not all Real Estate is selling- activity in Luxury and Shorefront has been tepid at best and selling price points are lower.
3. Prices are down. – People are reentering the Real Estate Market, but they are shopping for deals. There are a LOT of nice houses out there available in the $100.000 to $250,000 price range. This was unheard of a few years ago.
4. Inventory levels in certain segments of the market are clearing out and adjusting to the market – the average sale price for Lake Winnipesaukee waterfront YTD is approx. $900,000 involving 25 sales. There is very little Lake Winnipesaukee waterfront inventory left in the $500,000 to $800,000 range- the most recent active price points. There were 17 sales YTD on Winnipesaukee that sold for under $1 million. (If you own one of these, call me I need you listing)
The short and simple summation – right now we are selling more property for lower prices. What this means is that the Market has finally somewhat adjusted to the economic conditions. One of the reasons I believe this is happening is that the so called housing bailout (which never happened as the banks didn’t lend the money the Feds gave them to homeowners as they were supposed to, but used it instead to line their already deep pockets) prevented the clearing out of excess inventory in a reasonable time frame by giving people false hope of help with their underwater loans. They now are getting out, pricing at the market, and taking their losses. Other factors are that sellers are finally realizing that the market is what it is and that even if they have $500,000 invested in a home purchased in 2006, in today’s market it won’t sell for more than say $375,000. Real Estate is a market just like other markets. If you paid $700 for Apple stock, it’s only worth around $450 today.
Bad news for some is good news for others. The good news is that people are buying!! Properly priced homes are selling. If you need or want to sell your home, now is the best time in years to put it on the market. If you have owned your home for a while and bought before the bubble, you can still expect to see a return on your investment. The other good news is that it is a great time to buy. The perfect storm of low prices and really low interest rates makes home ownership more affordable than anytime I can remember. In 20 years people will look back and say “remember in 2013 when the interest rates were at 3.6% and real estate prices were so low –WOW!”
The quick takeaways here are:
- PEOPLE ARE BUYING REAL ESTATE
- IF YOU NEED TO SELL, PROPERLY PRICED HOME ARE SELLING
- IF BUYING A HOME MAKES SENSE FOR YOU – CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE NOW ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A PERFECT STORM OF LOW PRICES AND HISTORICALLY LOW INTEREST RATES.
Post written by Kim Cedarstrom.
Kim Cedarstrom is a licensed residential and commercial Realtor© and consultant and president of Great Northern Real Estate and Business Consultants, an affiliate of Roche Realty Group offering a lakefront/residential real estate practice as well as commercial property and business sales services. Kim can be reached at kcedarstrom@roche.g.corvida.com or directly at 603-520-6609.
