Great article regarding strengthening home sales in second quarter 2010 verse second quarter 2009.

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2010/08/second_metro

Source: -Realtor.org

            -NAR

Details of the credit should appear early next week.  There have been some reports printed and this gives an overview of what has been outlined.

FIRST TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT:  First time home buyers are eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 10% of the purchase price of their home up to $8,000.  Buyers must make their purchase between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009.

Unlike a similar credit Congress provided last year, you do not have to pay this one back over 15 years.  The new credit, however does phase out for individuals with income of $75,000 or married couples with incomes over $150,000 who file their tax returns jointly.  Also you forfeit the credit if you sell the house within three [3] years.

Buyers who took advantage of the $7500 tax credit last year will have to abide by the old rules - meaning they will have to repay the money.

Information provided by Jeffrey Rice, Regional Sales Manager WFS

If you are confidant that your financial boat has little to no chance of taking water in this market, or, if it did take a little water and you are confidant that your finances will float well anyway, then a question ought introduce itself. "Has there ever been a better time to buy a home?" Mortgage rates are way down, and the inventory of properties is fantastic.
 
If, as a result, the inclination is there to put a toe in the water and seek out new home possibilities, there are some few simple DOs to keep in mind., whether your search is here along the Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Wayne, Paoli, Malvern Main Line or elsewhere.
 
1. Understand what's happening in your local market. As we have said before, Wayne  through to Malvern is not an area that is representative of the rest of the nation. Values have kept up here better than in most places.
 
2. Be sure to investigate for your best deal. 

3. Do not purchase foreclosures just because they are cheap. Be careful, know what your doing, and if you don't, consult someone who does.

4. Avoid overly aggressive buying. Be conservative unless certainty rules your financial condition. Remain conservative.

5. Find solid real estate representation. Someone with knowledge, and with whom you can trust.
 
Wishing you the best of good buys.     

There are really too many detailed reasons to list but here are a few. 

1. Your REALTOR® can help you determine your buying power.

5. Your REALTOR® provides due diligence during the evaluation of the property.

6. Your REALTOR® can help you in understanding different financing options and in identifying qualified lenders.

7. Your REALTOR® can guide you through the closing process and make sure everything flows together smoothly.

10. When selling your home, your REALTOR® can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms and condition of competing properties.

12. Your REALTOR® can help close the sale of your home.

Source: NAR

NAR met with the U.S. Treasury to propose that the federal government establish an interest rate buydown program to lower mortgage costs to the consumer and encourage home sales. A simple 1% drop in mortgage rates can increase home sales which could lead to a turnaround in homeownership demand. In addition, for every 1% buydown in interest rates, we would see close to a half million additional home sales over a one year period according to an internal projection. This would shrink home sale inventory from a 10 month to a 7.5 month supply. Economists consider a supply of 5.5 - 7 months to be a balanced market.   

Check back on this subject. I try to keep you up to speed on this important topic.

Data source: Lawrence Yun, NAR

Lifting a quote from Bob Walters, chief economist for Quicken Loans, reveals that now may be a very opportunistic time to secure a mortgage. Speaking to the rate drop to 5.8% this week, the sixth drop in six weeks, he discloses that as long as rates remain in this range, it’s likely that strong mortgage activity will continue, “as consumers take advantage of a holiday gift that comes in the form of lower or more secure mortgage payments.”

The reason for this enthusiasm can be found in the Federal Reserve’s decision to purchase 600 billion in mortgage backed securities, a decision that sent fixed rates on 30 year loans to the 5.8% mark. Yet, at the same time, the raw number of mortgage applications, perhaps because of the Thanksgiving holiday, dropped 7.1% last week. The good news in this is that there are 7.1 percent fewer potential buyers looking for what you may be looking for. So, lifting another perspective from Jerome Scarpello, of Leo Mortgage in Ambler, who is speaking of buyers with secure jobs and good credit, “if you are smart, you can get a bargain”

Home prices are down. Rates are great, and it’s a great time to be buying real estate in Delaware county if you are in the position to do so.

A word to the wise…

"The eight county metropolitan (Philadelphia) area is in better shape than almost anywhere else in the country . . ." says Alan J. Heavens, the Philadelphia Inquirer Real Estate writer. This observation strikes a very positive note for anyone currently thinking of home buying in the Philadelphia, Main Line, or Greater Delaware Valley area.

 Probably the most important single thing to come away with from Mr. Heavens' observation is that the local Main Line real estate market is remarkably stable, not being subject to the same fluctuations as found in those once-hot markets. Credit a lot of this stability to the fact that local home sellers are not competing with nearly the same ratio of home foreclosures as are sellers in much of the nation. Local sellers are not competing with the depressive effects of contending with foreclosures. The comfort in this stability is obvious. One's home investment in Radnor Berwyn, or Paoli, even in the worst of financial times is, on average, reasonably secure. 

Added to this stability is the fact that mortgage rates have fallen for the last five weeks. Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans says that current rates are at "unprecedented lows." 

For potential buyers, the question is to buy or to wait.  On the one hand, to search now guarantees the largest possible inventory being available. In practical terms, the greatest number of opportunities to satisfy personal home tastes exist now, at great rates. 

On the other hand, to wait on buying now is prudent if one has fears that the present economic down-turn would personally engulf them. Or, one might choose to wait, hoping that the national bailout might suppress mortgage rates even further. Perhaps one can still pick up a still lesser rate. While hope is a great asset in all things, the question remains: would a slightly lower mortgage rate of perhaps ten to twenty basis points offset the opportunity to realize the "pick of the litter" from the extensive inventory that now exists? 

To hope that sellers might lower their prices still further over the next few months is probably not a likely prospect.  Spring is coming. And further price reductions would only pare down the realized monies that sellers, themselves, crave to have in order to weather the new financial conditions.

Christmas time might be a good time to look for your next home. You may find that you have the field almost to yourself.

Finally, some good news for the mortgage industry! In a move to increase credit availability, the Federal Reserve and Federal Home Loan Banks announced that they would purchase up to $600 billion in Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), exciting news that sent interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages plummeting below 6.00% and near the lows for the year!

Many factors are coming together to make it a good time for home buyers to act. Interest rates are extremely low and home prices in some areas are at 2003-2004 levels. Add to that recent declines in energy prices and lower consumer interest rates. It's the makings for a fruitful buyers market.

 As a constituent, I ask that Congress focus any future stimulus package on reinvigorating housing markets. The current crisis is the result of problems in the nation's housing markets. Efforts to boost the economy must calm jittery real estate markets.

Earlier, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) proposed a 4-Point Housing Stimulus Plan that should be part of any new stimulus package. NAR's plan would:

*Make the $7500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all buyers and eliminate repayment requirements. The credit's limited availability and repayment requirement severely limit the credit's use and effectiveness.

*Make the 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent. New rules for 2009 will reduce them. Now is not the time to limit mortgage affordability.

*Get the Treasury relief program back on track and target more funds to mortgage relief. Create a federal mortgage interest buy-down program to make below-market rates available and stabilize home prices.

*Permanently bar banks from engaging in real estate brokerage and management. The banks have proven they have enough to do to simply manage the loan process. Banks should not manage home sales and purchases.

Housing has always lifted our economy out of past economic downturns. It's imperative now to foster a housing recovery, so that the economy can recover.

Below are some more numbers regarding one of our local markets. Just another piece of data that reflects how many of our local areas are sheltered from the real estate swings you hear about on TV. 

So in Haverford September 2008 average sales price is up 5.4%, days on market is up by 25%. And sales are down by 4.5% vs September 2007.

I was recently in a broker’s course and we were discussing some of the ways a listing agent could really think outside of the box to help sell their clients home. During this discussion, one of the topics which focused on the concept of a “home seller provided financing package” was so profound, that having to attend this course for the entire month was worth it; just to be there for the 10 minutes of this seller provided financing  discussion. Although a very simple concept. It’s too much to discuss in one blog article.

We have the following real estate data for homes that have been listed, sold, and pending sale within upper darby PA for the month of October.

Homes Listed: 90

Homes Sold: 53

Homes Pending: 54

Average Sales Amount: $160,623

Average Days on Market: 85 days

Sales Differential: -8.5%

Property is still moving in Upper Darby :)