Market Trends

Thoughts, insights, and commentary about what’s going on in the Charlotte NC, Fort Mill SC, and Rock Hill real estate markets, and real estate across the country.

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Even though we’ve been hearing for weeks now from our President that the ‘worst is behind us’, there are many that are skeptical about that statement.

With unemployment still at near record highs, the fear is that many looking for work won’t be able to keep up with their mortgage payments.

This is definitely an unfortunate situation, but it is by no means indicative of the situation we face here in the Fort Mill SC area. We’re very fortunate in that people are continuing to move to the Charlotte area and when they do, they’re quite frequently deciding to move across the border to Fort Mill.

I certainly expect this trend to continue, which means a strong Fort Mil SC real estate market.

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clipped from www.politicsdaily.com

With continued high unemployment, fears are growing that jobless Americans won’t be able to keep up with mortgage payments, leading to a new wave of home foreclosures.
Those fears are compounded by the fact that a federal program aimed at keeping people in their houses hasn’t been as effective as hoped, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The goal of the $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program, introduced last February, was to help banks make temporarily reduced mortgage payments permanent. But Obama administration officials concede the program has been slow to take off and they are considering revisions to make it more effective.
By the end of the year, economists predict 2.4 million borrowers could lose their homes, according to the Times. That would be an increase from 2.1 million foreclosures and short sales in 2009.
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Filed under Foreclosed Houses, Market Trends, News Reports by  #

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If you’re looking to buy a lakeside home at a huge discount, right now might just be the time to act!  Of course, that’s if you don’t mind living in north Charlotte NC on Lake Norman.Lake Norman NC Houses For Sale

A recent story run by WCNC news station talked about the glut of lakeside homes that are available in Lake Norman, and many of them are listed at steep discounts. For example and as quoted in the Charlotte Observer,

“It’s 7,000 square-feet,” said broker Jason Noblitt as he looked at pictures of a waterfront foreclosure in Mooresville. “It was on the market for approximately $1.7 million.”

The 5-bedroom, 4 1/2-bath house is under contract now and Noblitt thinks it’ll sell for under $1 million. That’s a $700,000 discount.

“In our current market you absolutely are not going to get what you did in 2006 or even 2007. We need to look at where prices were in 2004 and 2005,” he said.”

And it’s not as if there isn’t competition either.  An MLS search showed 470 lakeside homes listed in the Lake Norman area, which means it’s a highly competitive housing market.

Of course on the flip side, if you’re looking to purchase a lakeside home, now is certainly a great time to act!

Down here in the Fort Mill SC area, it’s still most definitely a buyer’s market, but as I’ve always said, if your home is marketed and priced correctly, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t expect to get a fair value for your home.

To learn more about the Fort Mill SC or Rock Hill SC housing market, contact me today and I’d be more than happy to show you exactly what the Fort Mill SC real estate market looks like.

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In July, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose 1.2 percent from June’s number to a reading of 143.05. Although home prices are still 13.3 percent below last July’s figures a year ago, the study also shows that the annual declines have slowed in all 20 cities for the sixth straight month.

Now, although this is certainly some encouraging news, home prices overall are still down roughly 33% from the numbers from mid-July 2006. So while we are starting to see some improvements in the housing market overall, there’s still a very long way to go before things are completely back.

The report shows that with the exception of the Las Vegas, Detroit, and Seattle areas home prices are rising across the country and I would say that that’s the trend I’m seeing here in the Fort Mill SC and Rock Hill SC area.

Yes, it’s still very much a buyer’s market, but you can slowly see home prices starting to increase ever so slightly.  We’ve been very fortunate in that home prices never really took the nose dive experienced by other markets, but home buyer confidence is certainly returning which in turn means homes are selling closer to asking price than previously.

Hopefully this trend will continue, not just in the Fort Mill SC area, but nationwide as well.  Home sales has always been a bit of a barometer of how well the economy is doing so the better the home market is, the better off our economy is!

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Filed under Home Buyers, Home Sellers, Market Trends, News Reports by  #

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It appears as if the nationwide housing slide that we’ve experienced for the past 2 years may be coming to an end.  Finally.

According to Bloomberg,

“Sales of existing U.S. homes jumped more than forecast in July to the highest level in almost two years. Purchases climbed 7.2 percent to a 5.24 million annual rate, the most since August 2007, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The gain was the biggest since records began in 1999. The median price fell 15 percent.”

As I’ve said all along, the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC housing markets haven’t been hit as badly as other areas of the country, but we’ve certainly felt the reprocutions.  Now with the national housing market appearing to rebound, I would expect that we’ll continue to see an increase in existing home sales.

There’s still quite a lot of homes for sale, but the pace at which homes are selling has slowly picked up the past few months.  And now with the $8K tax credit coming to it’s end on November 1st many home buyers are scrambling around, trying to find their dream home in order to take advantage of this credit.

So, if you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now’s a GREAT time to put it on the market!

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Even as the turbulent real estate market flips and flops, trying to make up its mind which direction it wants to go, there are still plenty of people either putting their homes up for sale or are biting the bullet and purchasing their new dream home.

If you’re on the fence about whether or not you should go ahead and purchase your new dream home in spite of the current economic conditions, here are 3 reasons why it might just be the perfect time to buy a home:

  1. You want to move up to a more expensive home. We’re most definitely in a buyer’s market right now here in the Rock Hill SC and Fort Mill SC area, so if you’ve had your eye on a more expensive home, now is definitely the time to act.  I wouldn’t expect home prices to come up any time soon, but I also wouldn’t expect them to drop much more than where they’re at.  That being said, you might not be able to get that dream home of yours at such a steal-of-a-price ever again!
  2. It’s a buyer’s market, plain and simple. If you’re not currently tied to a property or don’t have to worry about unloading your current home, then you’re definitely in the driver’s seat.  Many home sellers are concerned about even getting a ‘fair’ offer for their homes, which plays to your advantage.  This kind of market allows you to dictate more of the terms of the sale and in many cases, the seller is much more willing to listen.
  3. Interest rates are still relatively low. There’s been a lot made about how tough the loan market is these days, but in reality, if you have decent credit, can put down a solid down payment, and are serious about buying a home there’s absolutely NO REASON why you shouldn’t expect to get a good loan.  In fact, rates are still extremely low when compared to historical averages and when you can lock in a good rate, you’ll be able to enjoy it for the life of the loan, no matter what rates do.

So, if you’ve considered making the leap and purchasing a new house in the Rock Hill SC or Fort Mill SC area, now is definitely a great time to act.  We’ve been fortunate in that the real estate market has stayed relatively strong when compared to other areas of the country and with the advantages you hold as a home buyer, the time couldn’t be any better to take action and buy your dream home!

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