Why Buyers and Sellers Should Take Advantage of Today’s Real Estate Market

Get in while the getting is good!  The most popular way of measuring the movement of home prices is with the Case-Shiller Index, which show a 20-City Composite rating of 0.8%.  Prices are down from one year previously.  It’s the first decrease since October 2009.  As the report noted, some market sales were worse than ever.  Prices are still above the spring 2009 lows, but six markets—Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Portland, Seattle and Tampa, hit their lowest levels since 2006 and 2007. 

If you are a seller, your reaction might be to hide under the covers.  Buyers may be complacent, expecting prices to go down further.  Case-Shiller numbers have a tag line of several months that covers through October.  A lot of positive things happened.  A strong consumer’s holiday shopping report shows a big boost for retailers across the country.  A tax cut extension and a rising stock market have made people a little less nervous about opening their wallets. 

Unemployment is still a problem, but there is good jobs news, too.  Initial jobless claims fell to 388,000 for the week ending December 2010, which is down from 422,000 since July of 2008.  Reasons like increased consumer confidence and lessening of fear shows that you shouldn’t count on home prices dropping more.  As people see the financial and retail markets go up, it creates more interest in purchasing big ticket items.  It stands to reason that the economy’s starting to improve and the housing market is going to wind up costing much more at some point.  It’s better to get in the door now before you miss the boat.

There are still plenty of problems like unemployment, foreclosures and mortgage rates that are anything but friendly.  When interest rates go up over time, people have to bite the bullet.  They think buy now because they are most likely not going down any time soon.

With the mentality of getting in before things move up is something to think about if you’re considering selling.  Have a professional home inspector come and look over your home if you are planning to sell.  Fix major problems to make potential buyers interested.  And for buyers, there are many factors at play in today’s real estate market.  But for many, a simple saying may very well hold true.  Get in while the getting is good.