Friday, May 14, 2010

Real Estate Economic Report for 1st Quarter 2010

The Economic and Market Watch Report was just released by MLS Property Information Network - the largest real estate multiple listing service in Massachusetts.

For Essex County, it is still a buyer's market, but it is moving towards the neutral zone. The average sale price is steady, with the number of homes on the market predicted to rise giving buyers more to choose from. The average number of days that a home is on the market before going under contract has risen to 119, and is expected to rise more from there as more seller place their homes up for sale.

Though the tax credit incentives are over, there is still strong activity as buyer take advantage of prices that have bottomed out, and the excellent mortgage rates. For people who are thinking about moving up to a larger, higher priced home there are significant price reductions happening every day.

Here is a link to the complete report:

http://www.mlspin.com/mlspin/downloads/economic_market_watch_reports_current/MLSPINQ12010.pdf

Jim Armstrong
President/Broker
Armstrong Field Real Estate
978-394-6736

Monday, May 10, 2010

Zillow Reports that Boston Area Home Values Up

Zillow.com Reports that Boston Area Home Values are Up

The Boston metro area is one of the few places in the United States that have year over year home home value increases for the 1st quarter of 2010. Some other areas that had increases are Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Green Bay, San Diego, San Francisco, Tulsa, Dayton, Denver and New Orleans. Of the 135 areas tracked by Zillow, only 29 had increases in home values.

See the full stats at: http://www.zillow.com/local-info/

Jim Armstrong

Monday, May 03, 2010

Too Late for the Tax Credit!

Too Late for the Tax Credit!

The April 30th deadline for placing a property under agreement in order to qualify for the Fed's $8,000 tax credit has come and gone. If you did not have an offer accepted in time, does that mean you should stop looking for your first home?

Of course not! There are so many good deals out there right now there it makes no sense to discontinue your home search. Just in Essex County there are 400 single family homes priced under $250,000. Three years ago you would be hard pressed to find 25 homes in that price range. If you are looking for a condo there are 285 priced under $150,000 in Essex County.

Don'
t overlook short sale properties now that you don't have the tax rebate deadline looming over you anymore. You can get some fantastic deals on all types of properties. Don't let the asking price stop you from placing an offer significantly lower. When making an offer, you do have to consider what the property is really worth in today's market, and how long it has been on the market. A newly listed short sale property with aggressive (low) pricing could get offers for more than the list price. Your buyer agent is the best person to help you determine an offer price.

You do have to be a
little patient when waiting for a response to your offer, but in the end it could be worth it. The good news is that many lenders are working on cutting the response time down for replying to short sale offers.

Jim Armstrong