Signs Point to Uptick in Sales, but not for all….

      If you listen to our guests on the Real Estate Show, there is one thing they have in common — business in up.   But up how I keep asking?  Here is where things part and the real story begins to emerge.
     Let’s put things in perspective in the Jackson Josephine County Real Estate Market.  Yes, homes are selling.  Inventories are down, in fact way down.  MLS statistics show at the height of the market in 2008, 3,330 homes were on the market in Jackson County alone.   Today there are only 1,100.  Only one third of the inventory is available.
     What is selling according to Larry Frank, Principal Broker of REMAX Ideal Brokers and Sandey Boughton of Mortgage Express, are homes $225,000 in cost and less.   In fact so many of these properties are selling that many times there are multiple offers on both distressed and equity sales in this category.
      However, what about sales in the upper end.  These are homes offered in the $475,000 and higher range.  There are quite a few on the market and their asking price has plunged from the market highs.  There are terrific property buys says Frank and Boughton.  But why aren’t they selling?
      According to Boughton, in the old days of financing a buyer could get into a million dollar property for 5% down and no mortgage insurance.  Today those loan standards on upper end properties requie 20% down and mortgage insurance meaning the costs of getting into a high end home have esclated and buyers have stayed away.
       Also, buyers move into jumbo loan areas in high end homes and do not want to use their cash reserves or other funds to purchase a high end home.  The market has changed and expect high end properties to take a long time to sell.  When a Buyer comes along, what a deal they make if they can pull off the new financing.
    In the meantime, buyers are gobbling up $225,000 and less properties.  Inventories are really low meaning supply and demand dictact the market.  So be ready for anything when you make an offer.
     A final note from both Frank and Boughton is that appraisals are coming in at a regular pace above the selling price of the property being purchased.  That shows prices have stabilized and are coming back.  But until the inventory supply of availble property increases expect anything and that’s why you need a qualified real estate agent and mortgage person to guide you through the process.
        We look forward to seeing if these trends continue in the next few months.