As you can see, while inventory of available house has dropped dramatically, sales have remains fairly constant over the past twelve months. That means that there is fewer homes to choose from. When inventory is lower, it is more difficult to get a “deal” since there are few homes to choose from. While far from a sellers market, Lee’s Summit has remained one of the metros strongest markets for home sales.

There may not be a better time to buy a house for several years. Here are some reasons to buy now:

1.  Mortgage rates are still near all time lows – Mortgage rates have been at 40 year lows for some time. that trend is not going to last forever. Low rates mean you can buy more house for your money. I can still remember the 18% mortgage rates of the 80’s. Even a 1% change in the rates can significantly reduce your buying power!

2.  Even if rates stay low, the cost of a mortgage may rise – because of the high number of defaults, the cash reserves used to cover these defaults by FannieMae and FreddieMac are seriously depleted. this means higher mortgage insurance premiums that are tacked on to your principle and interest. Like higher interest, these premiums would have the affect of reducing the amount of house you can afford to buy.

3. There is $8,000 of stimulus money out there for first time home buyers. Time is running out. This program ends on December 1, 2009. That means you have to close on your new home by that date. In order to close by then, you realistically need to have a contract in place by October 15th. You have less than 30 days. There is a lot of inventory out there to choose from. If you are on the fence, now is the time to jump off and into a new home! Contact me for details.

If you still haven’t taken advantage of the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, your time is running short!

Reece and Nichols has all the info you need to take advantage of the credit!

The term Short Sale in Real Esate terms means selling a home for less than what you owe on the house.  Short sales have become more common in the past couple of years with the collapse of real estate values. Many home owners have little choice but to sell for less money than they owe, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars less.

While many lenders are allowing these types of sales to go through, don’t think that it is an easy way to get out from under crushing home debt. There are a few caveats to making a short sale.

SmartMoney has an excellent article on the pros and cons of short sales. To summarize:

1. Your credit score will take a similar hit as if they foreclosed on you

2. Lenders may come after you for the difference.

3.  You may not have the time cushion you need to get you finances in order as you would in a foreclosure proceeding.

Looking at my trending data for the KC market, it appears as though the KC market is bottomed out and is showing signs of recovery.  Pending sales are on the rise, and the months of inventory have fallen almost 4.5 months from 12.7 in November to 8.2 months of inventory in April.

Some of this can be attributed to the seasonality as November and December are typically the slowest months of the year.  However, the inventory of homes for sale has dropped 15% from a year ago. This reduction in supply has the effect of propping up the prices of houses as the consumer has fewer homes to choose from.

While we are not completely out of the woods yet, I think the worst is behind us.  The market appears to be chugging along similar to the pre-boom days, which I would consider to be a ‘normal’ market.

If you have been holding off on selling because of the slow market. It may be time to consider making the move. Inventories are down and prices have stabilized. This is especially true if you have a home you are considering selling that would be classified as a ’starter; home. A full 50% of the buyers out there are first time home buyers looking to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit. Sales of homes in the $100,000  to $150,000 range are actually UP compared to 15 months ago!

The Kansas City Business Journal is asking the question. The answer depends who you talk to. Based on the January numbers Metro wide, we aren’t quite turning the corner yet. The stimulus bill just passed may help some. But, will it be enough to spark a wider recovery in the housing market? We will have to watch the numbers to see.

If you are looking for a home in the Lee’s Summit area, the time to buy is NOW. According to Trendgraphix, the average sold price of an existing home in Lee’s Summit in January was $140,000. That is the lowest average sold price in the past 15 months.  It is over $22,000 less than January of 2008.

There may not be a better time to buy a home in Lee’s Summit:

1. Interest rates are at historic lows.
2. Average sold prices in Lee’s Summit are at the lowest point in 15+ months.
3. The economic stimulus package is offering an $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers (Haven’t owned a home in the past three years).
4. Lee’s Summit is still a great place to live and raise a family, with top schools and more affordable housing than other areas of the metro.

If you are ready to take advantage of the market call me @ 816-251-1534, and let’s get started!

Our new house has one down payment and 360 damn payments.

According to the same ecomony.com study mentioned in the previous post, Naples Florida home prices are expected to drop over 70% from their peak by Q4 2010. The KC market looks robust compared to Naples!

Moody’s economy.com predicts that prices in the Kansas City market will bottom out in Q1 2010. The total average sales price drop will be about 5.1%. Of course some parts of the Metro will fare better (or worse) than others.

What is interesting is that today the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors reported that the average price of an existing home fell over 21%; Quite a difference from what economy.com is predicting.  Numbers were down across the board.

Again, your area of the metro may be better or worse. Don’t rely on a market snapshot that covers such a broad area. If you really want to know what is going on in your neighborhood, call me for a FREE detailed market analysis targeted to your specific area. If you are selling, we can come up with a marketing plan for your home. If you are looking to buy, we can shop for a new home knowing exactly what a home is worth in the area you want to live. Reece and Nichols provides agents with cutting edge market analysis tools most other companies cannot offer.

Call me to get started!