Inventory is shrinking fast!

About a year and a half ago I told people that the market in Brevard County has bottomed out and that all the great deals were going away quickly. In Sept. 2010 the market was down to 5,800 Single Family listings on the market. Now, July 2011, we are down to around 3,000 listings with only 1,700 or so available for purchase now, the rest are short sales which are only closing at a rate of about 20%.

Yes, those who were waiting for the market to fall apart more have missed the boat as predicted. The question now is, do you continue to wait while the Internet rates start rising. It's just a matter of time that the rates will rise out of the 4.5% range and some predict as high as 7% by the end of next year. If you had been thinking about buying, I wouldn't be waiting. Currently homes are going for close to 95% of their list price and many of these have multiple offers.

I know you have been listening to the media. They talk about the market continuing to go down. I'm a numbers guy. The numbers don't agree with the media. In fact, I just read a report from Orlando that their prices had jumped in June to $155k average up from $112k average a year ago! It's time!

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know, we are always here to help!

Don't miss the boat!

For the past year I have been telling everyone not to miss the boat on buying a home. Our prices are at 1999 levels and in some areas we are already seeing an increase in pricing. Interest rates remain great at around 4.75% - 5%. In our area, the bottom was really last year, we have held steady the past 12 months.

Ok, now I know some of you are saying that I'm just trying to sell homes. Well of course I'm trying to sell homes, but I'm not going to lie to sell a home. For those of you who know me, you know me better than that. Luckily our business is good and has been good for several years. Even if it weren't, I wouldn't lie to make a sale!

The largest indicator of our market is inventory. In Sept. 2010, we had 5,800 single family homes on the market. Today we have just over 3,000. With inventory low, it's just a matter of time before our housing prices increase.

To check out the fastest growing areads in the country, go to:

http://lowes.inman.com/newsletter/2011/07/12/news/146960

If you have any questions, please let us know. We are always here to help!

Mitch

Where has all the homes gone?

So I wouldn't have believed this if you told me this in September, we are moving into a sellers market. Yes, the 5 + year skid in housing in Brevard County seems to be as low as it's going to go and we are seeing prices inching up. What happened? Very simply, the inventory has shrunk to a normal market.

In September 2010 we had 5800 single family homes on the market. Today we have only 3340 homes on the market, almost half. Of those 3340 single family homes, around 800 or so are short sales. This means that we have approximately 2500 homes on the market that you can actually buy and move into over the next 30-45 days. That's quite a change from our high of over 8500 single family homes on the market a couple years ago.

What does this mean to you? It means you are about to miss the boat. This will be one of those times that people will reflect back on and say "if we had only bought in 2010 or 2011"! The tough part for us as Realtors is that the consumer believes we are lying to them when we tell them about the market. Unlike most brokerages and realtors, we are doing fine and have been the past several years. We have also stayed true to our beliefs of honesty and integrity. None of my Agents would lie to get a sale. We know the importance of helping our customers realized their goals and dreams, not ours.

If you have been thinking about buying, this is probably the last best chance you will get over the next several months to a year. Once interest rates start going up, and it's just a matter of time, along with prices going up, the boat will have officially been missed. If you have any questions about the market or any other real estate issue, please don't hesitate to contact myself or any of our agents. We are always here to help!

Mitch