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Tax Credit Extension

According to several different news sources the Senate is very close to extending the $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit to April 30th  of next year.  It appears that in addition to extending the existing tax credit they will add another lesser credit for those  who have been in thier home longer than five years, up to $6,500.  This in an effort to not only spur the first time home buyers market but also buyers wishing to “move up”.

Most media outlets are calling this a “done deal” and saying we could see it signed as early as Friday of this week.

Third Quarter Market Stats

Quarter 3 2009This report compares the first three-quarters of 2009 to the first three-quarters of 2008.  I am measuring the percent change of four key indicators; number of homes sold, average price, average days on market and the number of homes on the market.  Clearly the housing market is down from last year with sales down over 20% and home prices down 2% with homes staying on the market an average of 20% longer.

Despite the number it still is a good time to buy with historically low-interest rates, good inventory levels and lower prices.

To build off my last post I have complied the same information from the second quarter of this year, and compared it with the same quarter from last year.

2nd Quarter 2009

2nd Quarter 2008

In general we see a healthier market a year ago, selling price % of list price was higher, days on market was lower and there where less months of inventory.  I will wait a week or so for 3rd quarter numbers to update then post my usual quarterly report.

It can be very helpful to narrow Real Estate market information to a specific price range.  Home buyers always have a price range they are shopping and sellers need information on how the market is in their homes specific range.

Price_Chart
This chart shows us what is happening in specific price ranges in Pocatello.  This information is from the most recent full month (August ‘09) and only takes into account single family properties.  The lowest price range appears to be the most healthy with only five months of inventory and an average of 106 days on the market.

One problem with looking at data for such a short time period as a month is demonstrated in the number for the average days on market for the 240,000 to 300,000 price range.  It looks pretty good at 83, but with only three homes sold we don’t have a really good sample.  In fact the last full quarter numbers put the “days on market” number for that price range at 156.

What will be even more helpful is to compare this months sample to last quarter and a year ago to see if we can discern any trends.   I will post these soon.

Lovely Listings

Take a look at Sara Lorimer’s blog that features odd, funny and disturbing photos from actual Real Estate listings around the globe.  Watch for the chair!

Lovely Listing

Days on Market

With the slow down of the local Real Estate market in the past couple of years we haveDays on Market seen and increase in the number of days a home stays on the market.  In a “buyers market” the time a home stays on the market increases and home stay on the market longer before being sold. 

This graph shows the number of days homes stay on the market and compares last year to the current year.  We see that the trend is similar, but days on market have been 10 to 20 days longer than it was last year.  This graph takes into account all residential, single family listings in Bannock County.

High inventory, motivated sellers and the $8,000 tax credit are all great reasons to$8000TaxCredit get in the Real Estate market as a first time home buyer.  The economy can change, the Real Estate market locally may shift but we know the tax credit is will be gone in a few short months.

If you are in a position to buy and you qualify for the tax credit, don’t let the opportunity pass you by, you only have until November 30th 2009 to take advantage of it.  For more information please visit www.get8000cash.com.

I am becoming more convinced that looking at the local Real Estate absorption rates is a very important step to price your home better, help you in your home search and House made of spongeseven see trends in the Real Estate market.  To quickly define real estate absorption; its the amount of time a given market will sell through (or absorb) its’ current inventory of listed homes.

There are a couple of ways to calculate the absorption rate,  I have recently changed the way I calculate it to now take into account past sales history.  This gives me the ability to look at data historically in the marketplace so I can identify trends in our local Real Estate market.

These numbers are for single family, residential sales and listings in Bannock County Idaho.  They represent the number of months it would take to sell out of our current inventory assuming no new listings come on the market.

Last 12 Months: 9 Months
Last 6 Months: 8.9 Months
Last 3 Months: 8.1 Months

Anything over six months in considered a “Buyers Market”.  What we are seeing is a slow trend toward a more balanced market.  It will be interesting to see if the trend continues this fall.

According to The National Association of Realtors in a press release today, existing home sales increased again in July for the fourth straight month.  This is the first time it has happened in five years.

The article credits the first time home buyers tax credit and the increased affordability of homes for the increase.

Good news for Real Estate and the economy.

Average Home PricesThis graph shows how the average home price in Pocatello has fluctuated since 2007.  Starting at the beginning of 2008 prices fell until last quarter of 2008.  Since that time they have fluctuated up and down with no discernable trend yet apparent.

This graph only takes into account single family, residential housing in the Pocatello/Chubbuck area.

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