High Point, NC

Lots of speculation and predictions are stirring regarding what will happen to the housing market after the 1st time and repeat home buyer tax credit expires on 4/30/2010.

When the original 1st time home buyer tax credit was set to expire 11/30/2009, closed sales definitely were above average for the month of Nov 2009.

We do predict home sales will be good through July 1, 2010, but after that, not really sure. Unemployment is predicted not to improve and another batch of foreclosures are suppose to hit the housing market.

Our recommendation is if a home seller wants to have a chance of selling their home this year, they should consider listing their home before March 2010 in hopes to catch some of the home buyer tax credit traffic.

Any thoughts or predictions?

Happy New Year everyone,

I hope everyone is having a great start to their New Year. I know in the next few weeks we will all be really busy. I just wanted to share some before and after pictures of a cute little starter home I staged. I only did the main area, but I hope it makes a difference in selling this home.

This picture is while the home owners were still living in the home. This is how it was showing...as you can see it feels a little closed in and dated...

Here is a picture of the home vacant after they moved...it feels cold and their is not a lot in the room to measure the scale of the room...

Here is the home staged. We moved the fireplace to the opposite wall so you could see it when you walked in and also so it was not in the way of the door to the patio. We used neutral colors and updated furnishings to give this 15 year old home a clean new feeling and to appeal to a wider variety of buyers...

Here is a before/after overview of the room:

The following numbers are the New Listings/Current Actives for DEC 2009

Source - Triad MLS

County	New Listings	Current Actives
Guilford	517	3737
Forsyth	357	3020
Davidson	116	1093
Randolph	146	778
Davie	37	370
Stokes	39	310
Surry	33	366
Yadkin	20	143
Alamance	35	313
Rockingham	66	481

The following numbers are the sold homes in each county for DEC- 2008 vs 2009

Source - Triad MLS

County	SOLDS DEC 2008	SOLDS DEC 2009
Guilford	258	345
Forsyth	199	253
Davidson	57	66
Randolph	51	62
Davie	24	15
Stokes	15	16
Surry	16	23
Yadkin	7	12
Alamance	23	30
Rockingham	29	39

The following numbers are the New Listings/Current Actives for Nov 2009

Source - Triad MLS

County	New Listings	Current Actives
Guilford	598	4062
Forsyth	496	3242
Davidson	146	1184
Randolph	111	758
Davie	47	414
Stokes	48	315
Surry	51	416
Yadkin	17	145
Alamance	57	359
Rockingham	78	499

The following numbers are the sold homes in each county for NOV - 2008 vs 2009

Source - Triad MLS

County	SOLDS Nov 2008	SOLDS Nov 2009
Guilford	241	386
Forsyth	237	263
Davidson	77	98
Randolph	51	54
Davie	15	12
Stokes	28	23
Surry	25	23
Yadkin	9	12
Alamance	24	23
Rockingham	31	36

Nationally, housing starts came in lower than expected and banks are maintaining the current pace at which they put foreclosures on the market. Both of these have the effect of keeping inventories in line and home prices stable.

The Consumer Price Index came in at an annual rate of 3.6% and , at its current pace, the Fed will run out of money to buy mortgages next March. Both of these have the effect of pushing rates up.

What does this all mean? Housing prices will not go down and rates will go up, by the end of March, 2010. Folks, it's not rocket science.

Yes unemployment is high, but it's a lagging indicator. It will continue to go up even as the economy improves, and won't come back down significantly until 2011. But if buyers pay attention to the doom and gloom, they will miss out on the MOST affordable housing they will see in their LIFETIME.

This week, rates ranged from 4.75 - 5.0% depending on program, credit and points.

The above was provided by..........
LuAnn Davis
Sr. Loan Officer
WR Starkey Mortgage
Greensboro, NC 27401
Cell: 336.253.7220
eMail: ldavis@wrstarkey.com
Website: www.davisteamlending.com