Miguel Berger CRB, GRI, e-Pro

In New York's Capital region (and Tech Valley), there is a difference of opinion about the current status of home values. Some "experts" are alarmists and enjoy claiming the headline limelights by saying home values are slipping and that the market continues to decline. I know better, and I'll share the facts with you today!

In reality, home values aren't going down as much as you may have heard. Home values in our region are stable and should continue to be stable.

What's happening? People who have been in business less than five years don't really know what defines a "normal" market. During their time in business, we have experienced an overly inflated market with multiple offers, houses on the market for less than a day, etc. It's been a crazy-wonderful time in this industry, but a return to normalcy should not be construed as a depressed market.

The national news leads our locals to assume that the same things is happening here that's being reported elsewhere. That is simply not the case.

If we were actually in a buyers market, more homes would be in the local inventory. In reality, there are fewer. For the first three months of last year, there were 3,090 new listings. This year, there have been 2,952 new listings.

The average price for the first three months of 2007 was $242,533.00, but for the same period of this year, there has only been a slight dip to $241,697.00 and the average time on the market in ‘07 was 72 days, whereas this year the average time is 76 days.

These figures show that our market isn't in distress. There may be a few less houses selling. After all, there are fewer homes on the market this year (as compared to the same time last year), but the values are holding the line.

So, if you are worried about the value of your home, rest easy. And, if you would like to have a professional Realtor come out to help you determine your current home's value, feel free to give me a call: 518-435-9944. One of my agents would love to meet with you!

The way it works is quite simple.

I will be locked up on May 20. I need to raise bail. Yes, some of my friends might want me to stay there for a long time, but (trust me) I will get bail money eventually anyway, so you might as well help me raise the money ahead of time, right?!?

Otherwise, if you wait til the day of the event, It will cost you more, I have made it quite simple for my friends & colleagues to donate just go to the MDA site and be generous. The faster I raise bail, the faster I can get back to work!

I have set my goal at $3,200, but I'd love to raise even more - so why wait?

A local eleven-year-old boy, Max Burman, has committed to biking a nearly 300-mile trip from Buffalo to Albany to raise money for Habitat for Humanity here in the Capital District.

I had him as a guest on the March 23th episode of my weekly radio show, The TechValley Real Estate Report, on Talk AM 1300 and was quite impressed with his ambition and drive. I don't think many 11-year-olds today would willingly take on such a difficult task in order to help others, less fortunate than themselves, to live a better life.

This Bethlehem Central Middle School sixth-grader's family will be footing all the expenses of this trip so every dollar he raises will be going to support his cause. Max is currently training for the trip with his mother and 4-year old brother who is their self-proclaimed coach and navigator.

You may see Max training all over the Capital Region (just keep an eye out for him and his brother in the bright yellow buggy attached to his Mom's bike).

Max will be on the road this summer from July 6-13th.

He has already raised over $4000 and continues to work to raise more. I have donated $1000 to his cause and encourage others to donate to this impressive project.

Best wishes and happy trails to Max!

You can read more about this story and others at www.techvalleyhomesblog.com