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Is Now the Time to Buy???

 ACCORDING TO JIM WEICHERT, HOMEBUYERS SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF RECORD HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

- Homes Reach Most Affordable Level in 42 Years -

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., April 17, 2012 — You’ve likely heard it before: Low interest rates and attractive home prices make it a good time to purchase a home. What you may not know is that despite several years of favorable housing conditions, affordability has arrived at an entirely new level. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that its Housing Affordability Index reached a record high of 206.1 in January. This was the first month since the index began in 1970 that it has hit or surpassed 200.

“This means that houses are more affordable now than at any point in the last 42 years,” said Jim Weichert, president and founder of Weichert, Realtors. “To put it in perspective, let’s look at NAR’s methodology. A Housing Affordability Index of 100 represents a median-income-earning family’s ability to exactly afford a median-priced, existing single-family home. With the index at 200, that means a family earning the median family income has 200 percent – or twice – the income necessary to qualify for a conventional loan covering 80 percent of a median-priced existing single-family home.”

When it comes to determining housing affordability, no two factors play a bigger role than home prices and interest rates. Right now, these conditions are highly favorable for buyers.

Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have been historically low for the last four years, even remaining in the 4 percent range for the better part of the last year. That means today’s buyers are able to borrow money on more affordable terms than virtually any other time in the past.

At the same time, home prices have retreated as a result of the market correction that has taken place over the past few years. Together, this combination of low interest rates and attractive home prices allows consumers who buy today the opportunity to get much more home for their money.

Just as encouraging for those thinking about purchasing a home in the near future is the fact the home prices appear to be stabilizing or even rising. According to CoreLogic, a leading provider of real estate data, non-distressed home sale prices, which represent two-thirds of all sales, have appreciated by just over 1 percent since the beginning of the year.

While home price stabilization is good news for potential buyers in terms of the likely return on their investment, it should also signal some sense of urgency. The same can be said for today’s historically low interest rates. The reality is that there is not much more room for rates to go down, and that means they are likely to go up, negatively impacting housing affordability when it happens.

Added Weichert, “Those who have the means and the desire to buy now but don’t may miss out on the unprecedented opportunity present in today’s real estate market.”

For more information about Weichert, Realtors or to find your local office, please visit www.weichert.com.

About Weichert, Realtors

Since 1969, Weichert, Realtors has grown from a single office into one of the nation’s leading providers of homeownership services by putting its customers first. A family of full-service real estate and financial services companies, Weichert helps customers buy and sell both residential and commercial real estate, and streamlines the delivery of mortgages and home and title insurance. Weichert leverages its customer website, www.weichert.com, one of the most visited real estate websites in the nation, to help families and individuals realize the dream of homeownership through quick and easy access to listing information and the services of its real estate professionals nationwide. For more information, Weichert’s customer service center can be reached at 1-800-USA-SOLD. Weichert franchised offices are independently owned and operated.

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Homes Listed in Winter Sell Best!

Homes Listed in Winter Sell Best!

(c/o Blackwater Consulting)

Recently we decided to dig into the reports and marketing data to see if it supported our feeling that winter is the best time to buy, and the worst time to sell. However, when we got the results we discovered that our assumptions were dead wrong.

As we roll through the holidays and into winter, many would-be sellers will be holding off on listing their home, waiting for the spring “selling season” to put their home on the market. But if you’re ready to sell your home now, is waiting until spring the best strategy? Not according to the data, it isn’t.

We pulled a year’s worth of data on three quarters of a million homes listed across the country and analyzed sales statistics by season. Here’s what we found:

• Homes listed in winter sell faster: 46 days in winter vs. 55 days in summer
• Homes listed in winter are more likely to sell: 59.2% sell in winter vs. 53.1% sell in summer
• Homes listed in winter sell closest to their original price: a 2.7% drop from the final price in winter vs. a 5.2% drop from the final price in summer, worth more than $7,000 on a $300,000 home

Homes listed in winter sell best.
Yup, you read that right: Overall, homes listed in winter sell best. 5.8% more homes listed in winter eventually sell (compared to the overall percentage of homes listed throughout the year), and they sell 1.4 percentage points closer to their original list price than the median—-that’s $4,900 on a $350,000 home.

Spring wins in one category: Speed. Homes listed in spring sell the fastest, sitting on the market for 15% less time than the median. Winter comes in second in this category though, at six percent below the median, while homes listed in summer and fall both sell slower than the median (12% and 16%, respectively).

Why do you think most sellers are afraid to list their homes in winter? Don’t be shy about sharing this data with your clients who continue to twiddle their thumbs and “wait for better times.” As the data shows, there’s no time like right now to list a property.
Here’s wishing you the best of the Holidays!

The Team at Blackwater Consulting Group