Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I asked this question of some friends to get their take on where the housing market is heading. There were varying opinions, but overall the thought process is that anyone (for the most part) who was in the market to buy a home has done so and now housing purchases will slow.
Many people waited to the eleventh hour to seal their deals and got in under the wire. Those who missed (but really want to buy) may wait longer since there is probably not much hurry to close on a home.
Not all of my buyer clients qualified for the tax credit, regardless. Those that did were looking and contracted well before the deadline. Those that didn't already had a specific time frame they were looking at (i.e. after school lets out in June and before it picks up in the Fall), or they are waiting for their homes to sell. When they do, they'll purchase, otherwise it'll remain a waiting game.
Summer/Fall usually sees less Buyer activity locally than Spring, and without that artificial demand created by the tax credit, current listings will simply have more pressure to price themselves competitively for those buyers left in the market. There are still Buyers though, and the well-priced homes will continue to move.
While I had many clients who did qualify for the tax credit, it's was not the magic bullet for everyone. My phone has been ringing just as much since the deadline past by both buyers and sellers who have their own criteria and timing for moving. Spring is always a busy time for clients who want to be settled into new homes before the next school year starts. I continue to have visitors (especially from the northeast) looking towards retirement. Many buyers both local and transferees see the wisdom is buying now while prices are great and interest rates are still real good and they have an abundance of homes to choose from. We are blessed to live in an area with so much to offer that I expect to have a great year in sales!
what's next? how about like 10,000 jobs for the local economy. Dont know what the rest of the country will do but I believe we'll see quite a surge in demand later this year and for quite a few years after that (we're already seeing it) alot of the buyers we had last month were NOT tax credit buyers...
We have had increased activity on our house in Atlanta since November of last year. I would say that 98 percent of those who looked did NOT qualify for the tax credit. I do think things will still slow down due to timing and the continued uncertainty of the economy. As many have said, we will be in a flat line for housing for the next while, even in Charleston. In the ATL we had a deluge of foreclosures a year or so ago, it slowed and then this late winter, early spring we had another crop. I think we will continue to see those waves of foreclosures/short sales.
Many of the home sales under contract right now may not close for various reasons -- insufficient credit, poor appraisals. Those hosues will go right back on the market...or to foreclosure or short sale.
we are trying to sell our home outside seattle in a small fishing village called gig harbor and it has been on the market for almost a year..the problem here is the market over 500k is really slow, lots of under 500k homes have sold. we have seen an increase in showings in the last month tho so we are hopeful may will be our month..
what's next? how about like 10,000 jobs forthe local economy. Dont know what the rest of the country will do but I believe we'll see quite a surge in demand later this year and for quite a few years after that (we're already seeing it) alot of the buyers we had last month were NOT tax credit buyers...
'Very optimistic numbers'...no wait
'Extremely optimistic numbers'....that's not correct either
Price the house right, then it will sell. I just brought a house, and I don't qualify for the tax credit. Already own a house no mortgage in a major US city, and are buying one here because I moved here.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
alot of the buyers we had last month were NOT tax credit buyers...
