Buyers are lining up to buy a house before the holidays!


Buyers are lining up to buy a house before the holidays!
November 24, 2008 Filed In: market
Admittedly, I'm drawing this conclusion from several disparate data points, but examine the facts... While shopping at Martins for half an hour this weekend I received 4 phone calls each related to a buyer (or their Realtor) wanting to view properties immediately. Tom was answering general phone inquiries for 2 hours this morning at our office, and received 3 calls from first time buyers who are itching to buy -- 2 of them are looking at properties later today. Web traffic so far this month (Nov 1 - 23) on our company and agent web sites has surpassed full month traffic numbers for July, August, September and October. It will be interesting to review the market report numbers at the end of November and December to see whether all of this buyer excitement turns into closed real estate sales!
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Sep 10, 2010 (unless otherwise noted).
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@cbfunkhouser.com
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Close Comments 6 Comments so far . . . Tisha: Scott, to what do you attribute this interest? Is it a rebound effect of the election and the perception that the economy can only go up from here? I admit, my husband and I are on the fence about whether to buy or not at this time and all the information just seems so conflicting. November 25, 2008 10:02 am Scott Rogers: Tisha --- excellent question! I think we're seeing this activity because... 1. People need a place to live. 2. People realize that our local economy and housing market is not declining in the way that the national economy and housing market have been. 3. People realize that if they are going to stay in a home for several years, that buying right now affords them low interest rates, lots of choices of houses and negotiating ability. For many, the alternative is to stay in a housing situation that doesn't work well for them (space, location, etc). What are your thoughts? What keeps you on the fence? November 25, 2008 2:46 pm Tisha: Scott, all great insights! I think we stay on the fence for several reasons: 1. Uncertainty in the economy, thus feeling less secure about our jobs, makes us hesitant to purchase; 2. Between the two of us we own two townhouses. We're not sure if we should hold on to both and buy something else, or if we should sell (assuming that there are buyers in this market); 3. We'd like to have some land (1+ acres) with our house and properties like that are far and few in between; and 4. In the short time I've lived here I've seen the rates increase dramatically. I still think the local market is inflated. I've seen what the rates were, not that I'm expecting them to decline to where they used to be, and it's hard to convince ourselves to pay $300k or more for a 3BR/2BA under 3,000 sq ft and with less than 1/2ac (forget the full acre!) of land. It just makes us want to move to the county, but we're really resistant to that because it's less diverse. November 26, 2008 1:09 pm Scott Rogers: Tisha --- thanks for sharing your perspectives on buying in the current market. To respond to your thoughts... 1. Totally understandable! 2. I think it would be worthwhile to consider how much you could sell one of them for in the current market and then assess whether that would be worthwhile given the other factors in your financial scenario. There are buyers in the market, but properties need to be priced right to sell at a reasonable pace, or to sell at all. 3. That can be difficult, especially in the City, where you'd prefer to be. 4. I'm assuming you mean that you have seen housing costs go up, which they have! I agree with you that it's unlikely that we're going to see them come back down --- and I must point out that right now might be your best opportunity to get a house at a good price, given a buyer's ability to negotiate in our current market. November 26, 2008 1:56 pm john: Trying to call a housing market bottom is folly. There is not a single person on earth who knows when the economy OR housing market will turn around. Those that make absolute predictions as to market direction either don't know, or don't know that they don't know. To be clear, I don't think that anyone here is making absolute predictions -- just noting that in the end, everyone is guessing. That being said, this market has 2 VERY compelling reasons to support buying now. 1. 30 year fixed rates are in the high 4's. Yeah -- you can get a 30 year fixed rate loan with a rate in the 4.875% range with NO POINTS. That is ludicrous. 2. Prices are reasonable for downtown properties. Given all of the incredibly positive changes going on in the downtown historic district, I'm actually surprised that they aren't moving higher. I also think that you are more likely to see properties increasing in value rather than decreasing. A great cliche about the housing market (and the stock market, too): Most people get in too late, and they get out too late. The second mistake has already been made by most. Don't let the first happen, too. Just my 2 cents! December 14, 2008 10:34 am Scott Rogers: John said --- "There is not a single person on earth who knows when the economy OR housing market will turn around." I agree wholeheartedly John! This post was written towards the end of November when it seemed like buyer activity was picking up, but then my November market analysis showed the slowest sales pace that we've seen in six years. It is hard to make any predictions at all right now! December 15, 2008 3:13 am Add A Comment: Name (required) E-mail (required, not published) Website Prove you're not a comment-spammer . . .