The Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors published their Weekly Market Activity Report for the week ending November 23, 2009 and the numbers continue to point to signs that it may be a good time to sell your home in Dakota County. These are the Top 5 reasons why this may be a good time to sell now:
- Home Inventory Way Down – As their report shows, the number of active listings is down significantly in the past year and this is especially true of single family homes. A balanced market is considered 20,000 active listings and we are approaching that now. The full report also shows Days On Market declining and Percent of List Price Received increasing which are positive for sellers.
- Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit – The extension of the Homebuyers Credit will continue to artificially pull buyers that may have bought later in 2010 into making a home buying decision before the April 30th deadline. In addition, the expansion of the Credit to go beyond First-time Buyers opens up a new demographic of buyers that may be moving up into a larger home. Many expect that home prices will stagnate and possibly drop in price once the Credit expires and almost no one expects another extension. Home Buyer Credit Details
- Interest Rates – With 30 year fixed rates hovering close to 5.0% we still have very cheap money out there to help purchase homes (for those that can get financing). Almost all economists are expecting rates to increase at some point. Keep in mind that for every 1% rise in interest rates it cuts buying power by 10% so these low rates are allowing buyers to get into more expensive homes. Wall St. Journal – Fed Not Quite Ready To Raise Rates
- Move Up Buyers Benefit – While the prices of homes has definitely fallen in the past 3 years, this actually benefits buyers who are looking to move up to a more expensive or larger home. Since the prices on larger homes has fallen both on a dollar basis and percentage basis further than any other category, the gap between a starter home and move up home is a lot smaller now. This makes it a lot easier to justify vs. looking at how much less your own home may be worth now.
- Foreclosures - While we saw a bit of a lull in the foreclosure rates in 2009 the pace of foreclosures is expected to increase again into 2010. This time the foreclosure increase is being driven by all those people without jobs instead of bad loans. There are also a number of people just walking away from homes because the value has declined. If there are more lender owned homes it certainly won’t help home values for traditional sellers. LA Times – Foreclosures Keep Rising in 2010
I offer a free Comparative Market Analysis for anyone that wants to look at getting an idea of their home’s value if they want to consider selling their home in Dakota County now. Contact Me For Free CMA
