Melody Anderson

Sales of single family residences down 30% from last year

An analysis of recent sales figures reflects what we knew already: that the sales of single family homes in 2008 were down substantially from previous years. To see it on a graph is even more impacting.

Sales of single family residences in 2008 were down 30% from 2007, which were down more than 10% from 2006.

The total number of homes sold dropped significantly, as well.

The number of homes sold reflects only a 20% decrease in the last year, which again reinforces the trends we observed month by month: that even as fewer homes were sold, the homes that did tend to sell were the lower priced homes. Hence the total dollar amount of sales dropped significantly more than the number of homes sold.

What does this say to someone considering listing their home today? It says that now, more than ever, it’s important to price your home competitively if you want it to sell. It says, along with additional analysis, that the value of your home has likely decreased in value since 2006 (unless you’ve made significant updates) and that the competition for a ready, willing and able home buyer has never been higher.

Homes continue to sell here at the Lake of the Ozarks. That’s for sure. But the expectations of successful home sellers have changed; and so I continue to say: if you can wait to sell your home, I’d wait. But if you really want to sell, or need to sell, it’s important to have your real estate agent give you a full and updated market analysis.

I welcome your comments, your individual inquiries and would be happy to provide a market analysis for your home.

[This was originally posted at: www.PostcardsFromTheLake.com]

First National Bank in Camdenton posts lowest rates in 37 years!

Every cloud has a silver lining, and here is the upside to our down market:

First National Bank in Camdenton has posted interest rates below 5% for fixed rate loans including USDA first-time home buyer loans. These rates are the lowest recorded since Fannie Mae began its weekly survey 37 years ago. This means that it’s a great time to consider refinancing (In addition to interest rates, it’s important also to weigh the refinancing costs and the tax impact from reducing your mortgage interest deduction.)

It also means it’s a great time to buy. Local lenders are lending even after many of the nationwide lenders have said “no”. Plus housing prices are roughly 10% less than this time 18 months ago.

Will prices and rates continue to fall? That’s the $24 question. But the problem with waiting for prices to bottom out is: one never knows where the bottom is until it’s past!

If you’re considering refinancing, or would like to talk to a lender to see how much a home you may qualify for, give me a call and I’ll be happy to send you a contact list for local banks.

(This post originally appeared at: www.postcardsfromthelake.com)

Short term real estate forecast for the Lake of the Ozarks is anyone's guess.

In a typical market, it's always easy to predict home-buying patterns in and around the Lake of the Ozarks and to advise homeowners accordingly.

Typically, at the first sign of spring, inventories will begin to swell in anticipation of the busiest season. By mid-summer, even though inventories are lower, homeowners and agents will begin to consider price reductions, as they ready their properties for the savvy end-of-season bargain hunters.

From Mid-November thru February agents would be spending more weekends at home finishing long-neglected projects, getting their records ready for tax season, and flying south to enjoy a couple weeks at their favorite beachfront resort.

That's the way it tends to go in a typical market. But this, of course, is no typical market.

I spent much of this weekend reading market forecasts throughout the US, listening to interviews of economists, and reading the discussions online between realtors. Such a wide range of expectations I found ranging from the cheerful optimists to Chicken Little's "the sky is falling!". I opened my computer this morning with no stronger a sense of what our local market will look like in a few months than I had prior.

I honestly can't say whether home prices will continue to fall, or if they will begin to stabilize.

I can't predict whether banks will be lending in April, and if so, at what interest rates.

When clients ask me, "Should I list my home now, or wait?", I have no charts and graphs (and certainly no consensus) to rely upon.

And so I'm left to simply continue doing as I always have: gathering and providing the most recent market information available for their particular property - and based on those numbers, strongly recommending they price their home competitively.

Armed with good information, and depending on their needs, my clients will decide what is best for them.

I don't believe in offering the rosiest of scenarios, or promising anything just to put another sign on a lawn for advertising. At the same time I understand well the importance of a positive and enthusiastic outlook. But it's important to balance a positive outlook with realistic expectations.

Giving my clients the best market data available pertinent to their property and situation, and then marketing it aggressively and effectively once listed, continues to be the best ways I can assist them in such uncertain times.

[This article originally appeared at: www.PostcardsFromTheLake.com ]

Simply rearranging furniture can have great effect!

Ten years ago I assumed that having a beautifully decorated or staged home required the assistance of a professional decorator or, at the very least, making a trip to a furniture store and purchasing the nicest pieces my budget would allow. Not so any more.

Thanks to HGTV and Cable TV, anyone with a paint brush and an imagination can turn a ‘blahh' room into an "ahhh" room. Oh, sure, it's still fun to buy exotic or expensive furniture. But nowadays we realize that it's not necessary to spend a lot of money to have a beautiful and comfortable room.

I have very little time these days to watch HGTV but there's one show I always TIVO: "Decorating Cents" with Joan Steffend. The last half of each episode has a segment in which home re-stagers create beautiful living spaces by simply re-arranging furniture and utilizing art and decor items found elsewhere in the home. The results are at times truly astonishing - especially considering what they had to work with. It never fails to inspire me.

Understandably not everyone has an interest in home decorating. But most people do have an interest in having their home look and feel great. Given the popularity of HGTV these days, it's very likely you know, or live next to, an HGTV home ‘re-do' expert. And chances are, if you asked, they would love to have another ‘canvas' to play with.

You'll know if you do. You'll walk into their living room and say "ahhhh" .

(This post originally appeared at: www.PostcardsFromTheLake.com)

Life-long residents say they wouldn't live anywhere else

I have been working with a young couple in recent months trying to help them buy their first home. Life-long residents of Macks Creek, their won't consider house-hunting in any other community - no matter the bargain.

The feeling they have of being at home in this small town, and the determination not to live anywhere else is the very same sentiment expressed by two other young couples to whom I've sold homes this year in Macks Creek.

I've asked all of them at some point why they want to live in Macks Creek - and no where else - and their responses have been pretty much the same: a desire to stay close to family, a love of the area and the country living lifestyle.

Saturday, after showing some homes in Macks Creek, I stopped at a gas station to fill up my tank. Fueling alongside me was a truck loaded down with firewood on one side, with two other trucks of hunters dressed in camouflage clothing on the other. Sorry that the batteries in my camera had died and that I was missing a great picture, it struck me that the scene that afternoon at the convenience store was, to some extent, respresentative of the Macks Creek lifestyle that so many young home-buyers here are committed to maintaining - and perhaps even passing on to their own children in time.

My clients didn't buy a home this week. The right home for them isn't on the market yet. But these clients are patient. They'll wait.

Macks Creek is located about 20 minutes west of Camdenton, Missouri on Hwy 54.

(This post originally appeared at: www.PostcardsFromTheLake.com)