Much has been said over the past week about the weakness in the US Real Estate Market. The Case-Schiller Report indicates that home prices are down in 19 of 20 metro areas in the country. While this news is not encouraging, it is not the end. With all these reports coming out every month, the media is treating the housing market like the stock market. Most people don't plan to live in Google, Linkedin, (or whatever the latest belle of Wall Street is) for the next seven years. If you are looking at the housing market like a stock investment that you are going to jump into and out of, these reports may be helpful. But most home buyers do not intend to do that. If you are planning to buy a home to live in for the next 7 - 10 years or more, there really may never be a better time to buy a house than now. If you are planning to buy and flip the house in a year, you may still have a few hurdles. In that case, keep watching the reports closely.
One positive in the Case-Schiller Report was the Washington, DC metro area. I can say myself that I have seen improvement in the local real estate market. For example Frederick County Maryland's Active Inventory is right around 1275 units at this time with a healthy sales volume. By comparison, the worst inventory level in the last five years was around 2500 Active Listings with a very slow burn rate. That would equate to about a 16 month inventory. Currently the inventory turn rate is around 4 months, a pretty good level.
This area is fortunate since it is located near the nation's capital. There are some changes in government every two years and potentially a change in administration every four years. Companies that wish to have access to the government want to locate here and lobbyists are also in and out of the area, as well, so this area, while not immune from recession, certainly is a little better insulated from them than other areas of the country.
Thus ends this post. See you next time..
Bob
No comments:
Post a Comment