I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up on Monday and my world was still functioning. Instead of the doom and gloom predicted by some, people are still buying and selling real estate. In fact, 80 properties were put into pending statewide in the daily update on Monday, the first business day after the tax credit ended, and another 31(and counting) have gone pending today. There is no doubt that a good majority of the first quarter activity had to do with the tax credit, either buyers getting the credit or sellers adjusting their prices and marketing to tax credit buyers, but it was not the primary reason cited in most sales. The fundamentals for buyers are still there, low interest rates, well priced inventory, and motivated sellers. People are still getting new jobs, getting married, divorced, having children, and all of those other things that help create demand. One element that has been missing in this equation is confidence, and that is slowly turning as well. Stock prices have steadily increased, GDP numbers are showing growth and consumer spending and confidence is on the rise. While we still have hurdles to overcome, the trends are positive. Unemployment continues to be a lagging indicator; we have yet to see any substantial decrease in the unemployment figures. This Week's Real Estate Insight: Experts feel that interest rates as well as home prices will begin rising soon. That's when people will start to panic and will be buying again. I feel as long as rates stay under 7%, the market will stabilize and buyers and sellers will be motivated by the true market forces of supply and demand rather than an artificial incentive. The Homebuyer tax Credit:The Day After
- By Michael McCann
- Posted
I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up on Monday and my world was still functioning. Instead of the doom and gloom predicted by some, people are still buying and selling real estate. In fact, 80 properties were put into pending statewide in the daily update on Monday, the first business day after the tax credit ended, and another 31(and counting) have gone pending today. There is no doubt that a good majority of the first quarter activity had to do with the tax credit, either buyers getting the credit or sellers adjusting their prices and marketing to tax credit buyers, but it was not the primary reason cited in most sales. The fundamentals for buyers are still there, low interest rates, well priced inventory, and motivated sellers. People are still getting new jobs, getting married, divorced, having children, and all of those other things that help create demand. One element that has been missing in this equation is confidence, and that is slowly turning as well. Stock prices have steadily increased, GDP numbers are showing growth and consumer spending and confidence is on the rise. While we still have hurdles to overcome, the trends are positive. Unemployment continues to be a lagging indicator; we have yet to see any substantial decrease in the unemployment figures. This Week's Real Estate Insight: Experts feel that interest rates as well as home prices will begin rising soon. That's when people will start to panic and will be buying again. I feel as long as rates stay under 7%, the market will stabilize and buyers and sellers will be motivated by the true market forces of supply and demand rather than an artificial incentive. 
