Market Report February 2008 Bedford County

The Bedford County Area Rea Estate is very appealing to the Buyer. There are plenty of deals to be made.

From February 1, 2008 to February 29, 2008, there were 49 Single Home Residential Units Sold in Bedford County

The Average home in Bedford County

List Price was $294,345, Sold Price was $284,926 and it took 116 days for the average home to sell. 5 sold in less than 30 days, 12 sold between 31-60 days, 5 sold between 61-90, 7 sold between 91-120 and 20 sold in more than 121 days.

House prices are down in many parts of the country - in our area we have seen some price reductions as sellers are not getting the prices they were getting a few years ago and the market seems to be adjusting to normal. Our area has seen a consistent increase of 3-4% annually and this seems to be the case now. Price declines that had been confined to the East and West coasts.

Based on the number of houses are listed for sale now, what is out there represents a 9.4-month inventory.

However, are all these statistics as uniformly bad as they are sound?

Not necessarily. Take existing housing sales for one: From all the gloom and doom perpetuated by headlines suggesting that home sales are at their "lowest on record," the fact is that the current rate of resale single-family properties is up from last month in this area.

Now it is not what we saw during the boom years. Nevertheless, it is not chicken feed either. There are a whole lot of houses changing hands, a lot of real estate activity. The market is not dead.

Do not believe everything you read.

What about interest rates? Sure, they jumped by a half a point in recent weeks, but look where they are: 6.27 percent for a 30-year fixed rate loan is lower than it was last year at this time, and by any historical standard, mortgage financing is extremely affordable.

Looking ahead, Freddie Mac chief economist Dr. Frank Nothaft is forecasting a return to even lower rates -- 5.5 percent rates in the months ahead. Combine that with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's promise to keep cutting short term rates -- probably another half point at the Fed's next meeting in two weeks -- and you have the financial fuel for a potential bottoming out and turnaround.

This area's low taxes and stable economy provides excellent job growth and stability, making a home purchase here a wise investment.