Doom and Gloom

Doom and Gloom

Thursday, February 12, 2009

by The Applegate Team

More gloom and doom news from everywhere Today. I wonder if the media gets as sick and tired of reporting that type of news as we do hearing it. One of the so-called analysts reported that most Americans are sitting on the sidelines because they believe that home values will continue to fall in the first half of 09. Maybe they will and then again maybe they won't.

Let's take a positive spin on this info rather than a negative one. Customers who are sitting on the sidelines waiting to strike, could be missing out on the greatest real estate purchasing opportunity of the last few decades, especially in Georgia. The average home price is $207,000.00, with the change over one year of -4.4%. However the change over a 5 year period is +16.6. That's a pretty good return if you plan on keeping your home for more than a year. When was the last time anyone has seen rates hovering at 5% and less. Also, what happens if all the stimulus packages coming down the pike, raise the rates and push home values higher. I guess my point is, who are the customers listening to, the Pundits on Wall Street or the Professionals in Real Estate.

I know that my stock broker always tells me that when the market is down is the best time to buy not when companies are going along at gang buster pace. So when I take that into the real estate field I can not think of a better time to buy then now when the market is down and there is an overage on the MLS. We are seeing increased calls and more of our listings are selling. So if you are sitting on the fence I would encourage you to jump off and jump in.

Jacque