Just some facts about our current real estate market to think about as we head into the new year. The outlook isn™t as bad as the news would have you believe¦.

1. 76 million households own their own homes, 30% of those households have NO mortgage, there are 62 million homes with a mortgage, 97.2% of those are NOT in foreclosure, 93.8% are current with their mortgage and 40% of all foreclosures are non-owner occupied homes.

2. We are in a recession and have been since last Dec.  Most recessions are followed by long  periods of prosperity; the good news is most global recessions last 15-18 months and we have 12 months already under our belts.

3. Supply and demand, new construction has all but stopped!  Three years from now there will be a housing shortage nationally because it will take that long for builders to get going again.

Jan. 2008 11.4 months of inventory, Today 9.9 months of inventory.  6 months of inventory is considered a balanced market

4. My industry is having a sale, prices are down about 10% or more, depending on the price range and area.  Interest rates are down to 4.875 as of last Friday for a 30 conforming loan. There are some no cost options still available.  A rate change of .05% at $220k is the same as a price reduction of $10K.  

This will likely be the 7th or 8th best year in Real Estate transactions EVER with 4.8-5 million transactions.  Good houses are still selling at the right price.

 www.tinastown.com