What Recession?

Nashville real estate agents  are a little busier than they have been the last 3 years. “I’m actually working 10-12 hours a day again” one Village Real Estate agent recently told me.  Another quipped ”I’ve actually been thinking of bringing on an assistant”.  New construction is certainly not booming, thought here in Tune Town it could be characterized as “solid”. Sellers are in fact in their third month of home sales prices increasing (source: Greater Nashville Association of Realtors).  So what might be the reason for the recent upswing? I think it’s good prices and historically low interest rates. Buyers, who in the past might have been sticking their toe in the the buying pool, are now jumping in head first. Home mortgage rates are prompting Sellers to price homes correctly so eager pre-approved home buyers can snap them up. Currently home loans are more affordable than anytime in recent history

Fed Moves To Lower Rates

The Federal Reserve plans to buy $400 billion in long-term Treasury securities by June 30 in an attempt to drive down longer-term interest rates and pump up the economy. The central bank also will keep the key Fed funds rate between 0 percent and 0.25 percent, probably through June 2013, and buy mortgage-backed securities to keep mortgage rates low.

Fixed-rate mortgages changed very little this past week amid sluggish economic, mixed housing data, and ongoing concerns over the European debt markets. The 30-year fixed remained unchanged at 4.09 percent, the lowest since Freddie Mac started tracking the statistic in 1970, while the 15-year fixed dropped a single basis point to 3.29 percent, marking a new record low.

For more information, CLICK HERE.

[SOURCES: USA Today; Information, Inc.]

If you’re considering selling and you’d like to get an idea of what your home might bring and how long it will take to sell, email me: mh@realtracs.com.

Mark

Music City Lifestyles

4. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN.

Q2 2010 home price change: -4%

Three-year home price forecast: 3%

Population growth, 2000-2005: 10%

Investors as well as Nashville home buyers can take heart in Nashville’s solid real estate market. Nashville Home Search Online has been reporting for awhile that the Nashville residential market is a good place to spend ones hard earned dollars.

Top Ten:

Raleigh-Cary, N.C

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas

Austin-Round Rock, Texas

Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee

San Antonio, Texas
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Albuquerque, N.M.
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado
Springfield, Mo.
Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.

The study points out that population growth in markets not severely hit by the recession is a big reasons for the rosy picture. Those of us who call Nashville home can tell you that people coming to town will cite the ease of living, lack of state sales tax, youthful population demographic, moderate climate, and location, location, location. Nashville is about an 8 hour drive from 70% of the nation’s population. Did I mention that Nashville not only home to the Country Music Industry. Music insiders point out that Nashville is the process of becoming the mecca of all American popular music. Nashville boasts an easy in and out international airport, making air trvel anywhere easy as a summers breeze.

To read the Forbes story from their site click here. If you’re a nuts and bolts type and would like to analyze the parameters and the metrics, try this one .

Happy Home Hunting!

Mark

Nashville Real estate Search Online

Did this literal dark cloud have a silver lining? Well, a lot had to be repaired so I was now presented with the opportunity to meet some local vendors.  I had contacted several for each phase who came out to estimate repair costs. Our foundation was compromised (5 feet of water in our basement cracked a block foundation wall). Our drainage system, gutters and lawns all incurred negative impact as a result of a downpour that Noah and his Arch would have been impressed with. I had 14 different bids on the various jobs. The following is a short list repair people who I’d recommend:

•  Mid–State Ornamental Ironworks

Block and concrete work is their meat and potatoes. Mike and Bruce did a great job saving my basement retaining wall. Rather than rebuilding the entire wall, we lowered the cost by installing “pilasters” in three places where the wall had cracked as a result of the flood. Fast, clean, and good!

• Chuck Thompson

Chuck showed up with a dump truck and Bobcat and leveled the front of my property that had major issues after the storm. He mentored me in re-seeding my front yard. I admit that I had fun growing my first front lawn. Thanks Chuck! (Don’t call me if you’d like help over seeding your lawn)

•  Richard Stein

Contemporary Designs in brick, tile and stone. Not only did he recommend other great vendors, he didn’t rip me off by creating a job for himself when there wasn’t one!  Richard came out and gave me some free advice that will save me thousands. Wow!

•  Alford Roofing.

The gutters needed replacing and I’ve hired Chance at Alford to do the job. He and his father Mark came out Friday to take the old gutters down, and put in the aluminum fascia. The actual gutters will be installed within the next few days. I told Chance that there was no insurance money for these repairs (true) and he worked with me on the price. Call or email me if you’d like to know the results of his efforts.

More soon,

Mark

We had a great summer vacation. Where?  Manhattan Beach, California.   The Surf was running low and the California home prices are still, considering the flabby economy, HIGH. $2,000,000 will get you an ocean view/LA view 3 bedroom, 3 bath, about a half mile from the sand.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYthdP0qOaI[/youtube]

Our friend and client, Roscoe Vaughan, will be featued in our next post. We’ll do a video chat on his experience with almost buying a home that was nearly destroyed in the recent Nashville flood.

Go out and buy a home in Nashville, Tennessee. It’ll do you and your personal economy wonders.

Mark

Nashville Realtor®

Village Real Estate Services

• Extended Tax Credit: both first time and returning buyers may benefit from either a $8000 or a $6000 tax credit. To qualify primary residential buyers must meet lending requirements, and submit and accepted home offer no later the April 30^th, 2010. Consult your Mortgage professional for details
• Priced To Sell: Nashville home prices are reflecting the current “Buyer Friendly” trend. As one of my clients recently said; “I can’t afford not to buy a home in Nashville now”.
• Mortgage Rate Bonanza: Lending rates continue to be amongst the lowest in recent history for both purchases as well as re-finances. 

Nashville, TN home sales also benefit from a continued influx of corporate relocation. Nashville sits at the intersection of Interstate Highways 65 and 40. An 8 hour drive reaches almost 75% of America’s population. Manufacturers of goods target Nashville as a cost effective re-location strategy. Employees that move with a company find great value in Nashville home prices.

 What trend will occur after the end of the tax credit? No one theory seems to be resonating within the Nashville home sales community.  Most real estate professionals that I speak with feel confident that value will continue to be the Home Sellers trump card. Good homes at a fair market price will always sell. There will always be buyers in the market for a great home at a competitive price. The multiple offer days of the mid 2000’s may be a distant memory, and prices in may markets will correct themselves, but home ownership is still, in most cases, a source of long term equity for most Americans.

Tax Credit Questions? Call me direct or email me: mark@home@nashville.com.

*Results are based on 3,303 responses to 6,000 surveys delivered to small and large real estate firms nationwide. The survey questioned whether continuing home sales were strong (100 points) Moderate (50 points) or Weak (0 points). Responses were averaged to derive results.