Who Knows When the Economy Will Get Better…

People in the media are trying to forecast when the economy will get better. They are trying to predict when the “housing crisis” will be over and when gas prices will come down. In the meantime, consumers are trying to make their dollar go further since the gas prices are affecting our daily lives by impacting us at the pumps, at the grocery store and in all else that we buy. People are thinking more carefully about their purchases and trying to make their money go further.

With all the talk in the media about the “housing crisis”, fewer people are moving. Our market has slowed down compared to the hyper-markets that we have been in for the last 3 or 4 years. If you graph the home sales since 1999 through the current year, the homes sales for 2008 are in line with homes sales in the market before the “hyper-markets” of 2005 – 2007. What it boils down to is that Wake County doesn’t have the rush of people moving here that we had in the last several years. Can we say that we are in more of a normal market? Who knows! Isn’t there a saying that “normal is just a dryer setting”?

Each area of Wake County and each neighborhood in the area has really a different market. Homes over $400,000 are taking longer to sell. Homes around $200,000 are selling fairly well. Homes closer to the RTP and technology areas are probably doing the best – less distance to commute which means a lower gas bill. If you are in a position where you need to sell or might want to sell, call a real estate agent and have a really frank and honest conversation about the condition of your home, the sales price and the market for your home in order to get prepared to go on the market or to make your decision to sell.

Next entry: so what should a homeowner be doing now if they might be selling sometime in the future?