Fall is here and that should be good for the real estate market for a couple of reasons. First, July and August are always slower than most of the year. I call it a roller-coaster season. You have people trying to get vacation in before school starts and then when school starts, the market (in a normal market) does not pick back up until usually 7 - 10 days AFTER Labor Day. The second reason is the media has slowed down on chewing on the mortgage business all over the front pages of our newspapers and the TV. This tends to scare a lot of people off. I guess one of the advantages of bing in the real estate business for over 20 years is that you know when the market goes up and down.
The past 18 months have not been anything like a normal market. I do not see our market for the next 9 months, improving. I actually see it still staying like ti is now, maybe sliding even a little back-wards. Look for prices to pretty much stay where they are. I do not see any appreciation in the next 9 months.
The rate change has been good but it is going to take more than that to get the buyers out. Our inventory is about 10% to 15% higher than normal, but we have 40% to 50% less buyers in the market. That is why you are seeing longer days on the market. Look for it to continue.
Here is pretty good advice. If you are going to sell your home, price it right for the get go - AT MARKET VALUE!! Don't give yourself room for negotiating - there is no room for that in this current market.
There are five things that sell real estate:
1. Price
2. Location
3. Condition
4. Terms
5. Agent you select
Price and condition are HUGE in a market like this. You have to be priced at fair market value or below, and your condition must be in TOP NOTCH- your home has to shine!!! The front door area and walking up to the home as to be in TOP FORM! The home has to be exceptionally clean and roomy, not too much furniture and not a bunch or toys or things laying out across the room! Price and Condition are EVERYTHING in this market!!
MARKET FORECAST
Look for our market to stay soft, the underwriters for the mortgage companies have tightened the loop buyers have to jump through and have made it a lot tougher to get a loan. We will see 20% to 30 % more rejections from the mortgage companies. You will see less people applying for loans because they are scared of the process. You can still get a 100% loan, but the cost of that loan is high and you have to have a 700 plus credit score to get it. A lot of people just don't have that good enough of a credit score.
Our traffic will remain lighter than normal, it will be better than it was in July and August but lighter than the last 3 or 4 years. If you have your home for sale or are thinking about putting your home up for sale, work on the condition and work on the price.
Here is the BRIGHT side of our market. There has NEVER been a better time to buy a home than now!! You might be getting less for your home today, but you are saving more money buying your next home because that seller is in the same boat you are. Builders are giving HUGE incentives to build so you can get great buys there too!!
The market is what the market is. The Northern Kentucky real estate market has run strong for the last ten years. We did not see the appreciation that the rest of the country saw, but we did well. Look for the next two to three years to be steady at best.
