As a real estate professional, it seems almost all conversations I have eventually lead to real estate. This has been happening even more since the extensive media coverage of the "mortgage crisis".
I am constantly asked "How's the real estate market?" My answer is always the same. If the media would stop telling us the sky is falling, it would be awesome!
I recently pulled some statistics from the Northeast Board of Realtors web site. These statistics will show you how strong the market could be in northeast South Dakota if people paid less attention to what everyone is saying and paid more attention to the statistics.
I compared January 1, 2008 through May 13, 2008 to the same time period in 2007. Here is what I found:
I don't think most people realize property values in our area are still appreciating! Please keep in mind this is residential only. It does not include any commercial property, farm land, etc.
I hope you can see the same trend I do. If consumer confidence wasn't shaken so badly by the national media, home sales in our area would be booming!
Unfortunately, there are many parts of the country where these statistics don't look nearly as promising. There are many parts of the country where homes are selling for just pennies on the dollar. South Dakotan's, for the most part, were much more conservative when it came to their home purchases. We tended to stay away from the ARM, interest only, and other "creative" financing options. For this reason, we are not affected nearly as much as the rest of the nation by the "mortgage mess".
So, if you see me on the street and ask me how the real estate market is doing, my answer is: It is going GREAT! The average residential home sale price is up 11% compared to 2007!
As always, if you or anyone you know is in the market to buy or sell their home, please call me anytime.
Sincerely,
Tim Gilmour
Exit Realty Connection
(605) 237-8959
Serving Watertown and Northeastern SD.
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Tim, can you explain why? If more people are selling and fewer are buying it sounds like you will have a glut of properties available which will usually lead to a lowering of prices. What is different out there that is driving prices higher?
The numbers and statistics can be overwhelming especially in the real estate industry, where their is mortgage distress and a residential market value crisis. Anybody interested and involved in the real estate mortgage/foreclosure/short sale process may be distorted with falsifying numbers and information, which can lead a FSBO or someone going through foreclosure either panic or feel a sigh of relief.
In my opinion, what I think that the best resources to rely on for statistical real estate numbers, figures and percentages regarding any real estate information should come from major real estate market research and analysis firms.
I agree with you on the residential specter; many of the statistics given that I have seen and read relate to residential sales only and can be confusing for a layperson.
I don't know where to begin to get the exact numbers as it is time consuming (in the meantime one would have to stipulate or follow the media), but it is an interesting topic to review and ponder, where does all of the information in the meantime coming from? Is it really useful or useless? Great post Tim.
Diana-Thanks for the comment, you are right, you can get lost in the statistics.
Marko-The reason is for this is simple...People are selling because they want to, not because they have to. We have very few forclosures and short sales. Because of this, sellers aren't going to give their homes away just because the media says they should.
Tim
Tim
Great piece. I really enjoyed your take on what I believe is starting to happen in the market. Here in AZ we are recovering a bit more slowly. We have more shorts/foreclosures due to the influx of investors. More people here have to sell not because they want to but because they have to. I agree that things are moving in the right direction.
by the way, Do you have an outside blog that I can add to my Blogroll ?
Thanks and look forward to reading your thoughts on the world of real estate.