We're Up, We're Down, We're Up, We're Down

I came across an interesting article on www.cnn.com by Les Christie on the increasing amount of deals being signed.

There are multiple reasons for this, but mainly the record low prices due to foreclosures, short sales etc. Normally, it would have been just another article, but it happens to be true for The Glen Russell Team as well. This past december we had more deals than November & January. Granted it's a generally slow time for most realtors, but things are picking up.

I love when people talk about "the market, the market. It's so terrible." Then why are we busy! If you are even remotely considering buying a home, you are absolutely NUTS if your not taking advantage of what's happening right now. The deals to be had are in my opinion once in a lifetime, and I make sure all of my buyers know that.

Here is the article - ENJOY! I hope it's true for many other realtors also.

MAKE IT AN AWESOME DAY!!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Plunging home prices and low mortgage rates pushed homebuying activity higher in December, according to a regular industry report released on Tuesday.

The Pending Home Sales Index, from the National Association of Realtors, measures the number of sales contracts signed each month. It rose 6.3% in December to 87.7, after dropping 4% in November to a record low of 82.5.

The index was 2.1% higher than its December 2007 level.

"Significant uncertainty still clouds the housing market despite improved affordability conditions," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, in a written statement. "For a sustainable housing market recovery, and a sustainable economic recovery, we need a significant housing stimulus for qualified borrowers,"

Sales of homes that were repossessed in foreclosure proceedings contributed significantly to the index's improvement. Repossessions and short sales, when homes are sold for less than what borrowers owe on their mortgage, now account for more than 30% of all U.S. home sales, according to real estate Web site Zillow.com.

Sales activity gained the most traction the South, where the index jumped 13% in December. The Midwest was also much higher at 12.8%. The Northeast, however, slipped by 1.7% and the index in the West fell 3.7%.

Home sales also benefited from a drop in mortgage interest rates during the month. The 30-year, fixed-rate loan averaged 5.29% for the month, with the average borrower paying a fee equal to 0.7% of the mortgage principal. That was, by far, the lowest that mortgage rates had been all year.

Cheaper real estate

The lower mortgage rates helped push housing affordability to record levels.

NAR's Housing Affordability index improved to 158.8 in December, up more than 29% year-over-year. That makes buying a home more affordable than any time since NAR started tracking the measure in 1970.

A household earning the median U.S. family income can now afford a home of $277,000, according to NAR. That's well above the national median home price, which was $198,600 in 2008.

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