Your Local Housing Market

If you have paid any attention to the news or gossip out there you've heard that the housing market is deteriorating. It is true that the housing market is slowing, but it does not mean that you can't sell your home for what you want. If you look at the past 15 years or so, you would notice a trend that showed a steady increase in the market. Home sales continued to rise as well as home values. From 2000 to 2005 was probably the fastest growth our housing market has seen.

Let me explain just what is going on now. Because of the housing boom of past years, developers all around the country saw this as an opportunity for them. With home sales on the rise they were able to up the selling price of a home. Since the homes were selling so fast because of how many different types of mortgages were out there and given to underqualified applicants, developers started to build more. They built far more "spec" homes, a home that is built without a buyer, than they would have if there had been just a steady market. I have personally seen new subdivisions start in the Midwest where out of the first 100 homes built, 60 or so were specs. They had no buyers! With so many homes built they had to slow the building process. Well now that you put construction workers out of work and they sit on unemployment, they have just hurt the economy. Multiply that across the nation and you get a very large number of unemployed workers. Take these people who are not making money like they used to and add that with those who are foreclosing on their homes due to mortgages they got into and can't get out of, your left with a lot of homes to sell off. That is one of the major reasons our housing market collapsed.

Now that we know a little bit about what is causing this change, what about your local housing market? Throughout the nation it will vary. One thing that you can be sure of though is that you will have to set your home out from the rest to get somebody to notice and buy it. One of question you may be asking right now might be, how do I find out what my market is like? With a little research on your part it should be pretty easy to find out. The fastest way to keep an eye on your local housing market is to watch the homes for sale by a realtor. Usually most newspapers have a weekly insert with homes in your area that you can use to compare values in your area with. Go to some of these homes when they offer an open house. Now you can really get the feel of the condition of these homes for the price they are asking. Does your's compare? You now have a solid base to decide if your home is worth more or less than these homes.

Being close in price to your local housing market's price will give you a better chance in selling your home. Remember too high and most people drive by. Too low they fear that it needs too much work. If you are still in doubt contact an appraiser. A licensed appraiser will give you a very accurate estimate as to what your home is valued at in your local housing market.