First Time Home Buyer Resource and Is our local market doomed to die a slow death this year?

Or is it primed to make a comeback?  Well, maybe somewhere in between lies the best guess.  The first and last thing to always remember when we’re talking about real estate is that IT’S ALL LOCAL.

Who cares if the sky is falling across the country. So what if USA Today, WSJ and the nightly news talk doom and gloom.  The saying goes all politics are local and while that may be true, so are real estate markets and Columbus is no exception.

2005 was the biggest year in real estate history in Columbus, Ohio.  2006 was third.  2007 is on track to be the 4^th best real estate market in history. That’s not shabby, really.

Also, Ohio does NOT have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, Colorado does.  Ohio is number 8.  At the same time, we here in Ohio did experience a 20% increase in foreclosures last year over the previous year.  Ohio is number one in percentage of homes in foreclosure -- similar but not the same. Fact:  The foreclosure rate for Ohio stands at 1.7% of all mortgages.

Speaking of almost losing your home, if you’re afraid your tight financial situation may mean you’ll miss a mortgage payment or two, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (yes, that’s OHFA) has a new loan product for you: The Opportunity Loan Refinance Program.  They also have a great first time home buyer program.

June 19th, 2007 categories: Real Estate News, For Home Buyers, Market Updates, Mortgage/Finance