March market update
Courtesy of Lon Welsh, Your Castle Real Estate:
– Historically speaking, we don’t have a lot of homes on the market to sell. This is particularly true under $250K. If you were thinking about selling your home this spring and it’ll sell for under $250k, the market is red-hot. Between $250-$350K is healthy for sellers, too.
– Buyers are competing vigorously for the homes that are available. The number of under contract listings is +19% from this time last year, even though inventory is unchanged! We attribute most of the activity to the tax incentives.
– Some of the volume increase is due to the fact that buyers were very inactive in January and February. Year to date Denver sales volume for single family homes is dead-even with 2009.
– We don’t expect the tax credits to be extended. You must be under contract by 4/30 and close by 6/30 to qualify. If you are eligible, it makes sense for you to buy now. The more expensive the home, the better the deal will be.
– We expect interest rates to rise during the course of the year. If mortgage rates go up 1% (could be more than that), your purchasing power will decline significantly.
– The average single family home price in March ’10 was +9% from March ’09. This was a mix issue; since there are not many low end homes to sell, we’re selling more Cadillacs and fewer Chevy’s. Well, at least we’re selling Buicks.