Don’t look now but people are buying homes again. REALTOR Magazine’s October 25th issue reported that existing home sales increased in all four regions of the country, for the month of September. Here are some facts that should get you excited…
• The rate of increase ranged from 5% in the West to 14.5% in the Midwest
• Northeastern home sales were up by 10.1%
• Southern residential purchases sprang up by 10.6%.
• Interest rates are the lowest in recorded history @ 4.35%.
• Novice homebuyers flexed their muscles and purchased 32% of all homes sold in September.
• Investors captured an 18% share of the market.
• The remaining 50% were snapped up by “repeat buyers”—perhaps “down-sizers” and “up-graders”.
In fact, the average monthly mortgage payment, for recently purchased housing is several hundred dollars lower now–than 5 years ago. To put it another way, buyers can get more house for the money now, than they could 5 years ago—during boom times.
Is this something that potential home buyers are aware of in your market?