Here’s some GOOD NEWS for Real Estate owners or prospective BUYERS!
January 31st, 2008 . by Mike KellyOur statewide Association of Realtors gave us some interesting updates today. They are:
*Interest rates continue to remain near their historic lows. The fixed-rate mortgage was 6.10 percent in December, below November’s 6.21 percent, and slightly lower than 6.14 percent from December 2006. Today they are hovering around 5.375!!
• December’s fixed-rate was at its lowest level in the past five months, having peaked in July 2007 at 6.7 percent. A week ago Monday the rate fell to an astonishing 5.125%! The following attempted “lock-ins” crashed the whole system!! So be prepared to “Lock and ROCK!”
• Month-to-month sales increased for the second month in a row, rising 4.7 percent in December compared with November. The new home builders we speak with have been seeing multiple offers on some of their models!!! They are offering rock-bottom pricing, upgrades and terrific incentive packages. You an also be represented by your Favorite REALTOR as they are cooperating with every licensee to get their product sold!
• The time a home remained on the market prior to selling improved to 67.2 days in December compared to 72.1 days for the same period a year ago. Back in the early 90’s when the market was very bleak the statewide inventory on the market hit 26 MONTHS!! Here in the NorthBay it’s more like 6 months.
• In December, it would have taken 14.5 months to sell all the homes on the market at the current sales rate, an improvement compared with November, when it would have taken 15.4 months.
• Although seasonally adjusted sales fell 33.4 percent year to year in December 2007 compared with 2006, they were above the 300,000-unit level for the first time since August 2007. Don’t forget–when you come OFF HISTORIC HIGHS you are bound to see huge numbers when they quote PERCENTAGES!! We had virtually NO foreclosures for years in Sonoma County but a modest increase could results in a PERCENTAGE number of 50%!! Careful with what you read!
Don’t forget to listen to the Real Estate Hour every Sunday for the latest and the greatest in NorthBay Real Estate.
