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.

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[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

GNAR NEWS   Special Issue - November Home Sales   December 9, 2009
GREATER NASHVILLE HOME SALES INCREASE MORE THAN 50 PERCENT IN NOVEMBER

There were 1,973 home closings in Greater Nashville during November, representing a 58.7 percent increase from the 1,243 closings reported during November of 2008. And, there have been 19,571 closings so far in 2009, which is 14.3 percent lower than the 22,824 closings for the same period in 2008.

The median residential price in November of this year was $158,500 and for a condominium the median price was $144,400. That compares with median prices of $165,500 and $150,000 respectively in November of last year.   Inventory is down to 22,528, compared with 23,467 in November of 2008.

A good part of  the upward  trend is due to the continuation of the New home buyers tax credit. Current home owners are now eligible for a $6500 tax credit for the purchase of a home. There has rarely been a better time to purchase a new home, Inventory has approached normalcy, Interest rates are historically low, and both first time as well as returning buyers can take advantage of thousands of dollars of savings. If you’ve been on the fence, it’s time to hop off and get a contract on your next dream home before of the 1st quarter of 2010, or loose out on what might be a wonderful opportunity.