Turning the corner into a new year, those adverse to change can rest easy. The local housing market is not likely to alter its pace much, aside from the annual uptick in sales come spring and summer, accordimg to forecasts by industry professionals. Whether the status quo is good or bad; depends on whether you're a buyer or seller, on whether your a builder selling a new home, or an individual selling an existing home, on whether you have expectations that fit with 2008 or whether you're still living in 2004. Thats when many houses sold in a matter of days, at record high prices, keeping inventory low and buyers scrambling to sign purchase afreements. That's no longer the case.
Experts predict a slow market in 2008. But even a slow market isn't all that bad, as interest rates remain low, falling again below 6%, and the inventory remains between 5,000 and 6,000 homes in the metro area giving buyers a choice. Experts agree that 2008 may be a best year to buy.
Specifically, professionals predict the following in the next 11 months:
# The first time home buyer market-houses priced less than $200,000- is strong and will remain so because those folks don't have the burden of first trying to sell the home they're living in.
#Prices will remain lower, especially on new homes, because of the high inventory. Builders will continue to offer incentives, giving new home sales a competitive edge over existing homes, since you or I cannot offer $20,000 in incentives.
#Subdivisions slated to be built will stall, or builders will start selling off lots because inventory is already high.
# Both national and local forecasters believe the market could turn positive in the third quarter of this year.
However, down is the key word in the latest monthly report on the local residential real estate market. Home sales prices are down, the number of homes sold is down and the number of new listings are down. Though the average and median sales prices have fluctuated for several months, November's lower prices are the result of all of the competition. The median sales price in Nov. was $189,450, down from $192,000 last year. The average sales price was $233,950, down from $242.061 the year before.