New numbers show home sales increased 2.9 percent nationwide in February over the previous month. But year-to-year prices are down 8.2 percent, dropping from a median of $213,500 to $195,900.
What does this mean? Looking at the big picture—that is, the bad stuff happening to the overall economy that may never affect your life on a day-to-day- basis but which you lie awake worrying about at 2 a.m.anyway—it could be good news. Increased sales may indicate that prices have come down enough to tempt buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines for the past few months. If there's enough pent-up demand to buoy sales for a second month in March, prices may stop dropping.
As the National Association of Realtor's chief economist Lawrence Yun put it, "We’re not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing."
What does it mean for you and me? If you have been debating about when to buy, now may be the time prices are lowest. If you've been waiting for the right time to sell, keep waiting. In the meantime, stop worrying and go work in the garden. Digging a nice hole deep enough to plant an antique climbing rose will take your mind off this stuff fast.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Home Sales Are Up; Prices Are Down 8.2%
Saturday, March 22, 2008
How to sell your house for more
One word, says the "American Association of Realtors:" Landscaping. The association estimates that good landscaping can increase a home's sale price by as much as 15%.
We tried to find the source for that statement, contained in a PRWeb release today touting garden fountains as a smart way to gussy up your home-price-enhancing landscape. But we couldn't even find an American Association of Realtors, let alone a report quantifying landscape value. Perhaps they meant the National Association of Realtors? Here's a story on NAR's site that says good landscaping can increase your home's price by 20%. Oh well. This stuff isn't science, but it makes some sense.
Remodeling Online actually does a pretty credible job of trying to assess the cost of home remodeling, versus resale value. The site gets granular and lets you look at home-improvement projects by region. Nothing on fountains or landscaping though.
[Photo: kriptonfountains.com]
Thursday, March 20, 2008
From The Mouths of Realtors
This just in from south Florida, where John Tuccillo, former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, predicted:
...by summer or fall of 2009, the economy will be better, the housing market will be good and mortgages will be going for about 2 percent more than now.
The hat trick that will pull South Florida from the dumper, he said, is “population growth, falling home prices and a better economy.”
He urged the crowd to watch for three things that will indicate improvements in the real estate market: a drop in the number of home listings, a drop in the amount of time homes remain on the market and an increase in the ratio between the sale price of a house and its listing price.
Until that happens, however, “if you don’t have to sell your house, don’t,” Tuccillo said. Of course, not everybody trusts his advice.
[Photo credit: Nocirc] Read More......
