Well, looks like we are in the clear! Housing prices are on the rise so all should be good, right? Are you as skeptical as I am about all of the local reports of "Housing prices up 5% in June" or "Home sales on the rise!"? Being a Realtor, I feel like the public perception of the current state of our economy, and more specific the real estate market, is like an empty bottle out at sea. It gets tossed back and forth and if a good sized wave comes along, it goes under, only to resurface and bob around a little more. As professionals, Realtors need to be honest and direct with those we come in contact with. The media plays up or down current events, or doesn't cover them at all.
How can the general public know what to make of buying or selling a property at any given time? My suggestion is to contact someone who sees homes being bought and sold everyday.
The reports of home values being "up" are fine if you report the facts. The fact is, unless you compare what a specific house sold for 4 years ago to that same home selling now, then you can't really claim that values are up. Just like the loved term "median sales price". What does that mean, median? Who cares what the median sales price is? All median sales price refers to is the price of the house that is between the higher and lower half of homes that sold. So, if 3 homes sold ( $25,000 , $200,000 and $800,000), then $200,000 would be the median price. What does that tell you? The average sales price would have been $341,xxx. The median sales price really doesn't convey anything other than the price of a house that sold in the middle of a group or other sales.
I get frustrated when I hear polarizing information in the news about the economy. Why is there need to toy with the public perception? Why not report that home sales were rolling right along until the home buyer's tax credit expired, then they slowed down slightly? Also, consider that were are in the middle of the prime selling/buying time period in our market. I anticipate new contracts of sale to settle down in mid-September and crawl to a snails pace by November, but guess what, this happens every year. September will probably be a good month for property closings, so be prepared to hear the media report high property sale numbers at that time.
If you'd like a complete list of current sales in your neighborhood, city or county, feel free to contact me and I would be happy to send it to you.
