Good news continues to filter in Real Estate
There are a lot of exciting things going on in the Real Estate market that will continue to drive the momentum in a positive way. An update from the board of Realtors revealed that key lawmakers in the Senate have tentatively agreed to extend the existing $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and also offer a new $6,500 credit for existing homeowners. If this is passed, first-time home buyers will have to be under contract by April 30, 2010 and close by July 1, 2010. This is not approved yet, and an IRS probe of the proposed program is occurring due to concerns expressed about the cost of the tax credit for the government.
Mortgage rates also came down slightly from 5.07 percent to 5.04 percent on a 30-year fixed mortgage. This is again great news for anyone who is the market to purchase a home.
Additionally I conducted some research and according to the MLS there were 1006 properties changed to the sold status from October 1, 2009 through October 31, 2009. This tells me that we are continuing to move the inventory that is currently out there.
The next area I reviewed this week was the Commerce Department’s report released on Thursday October 29, 2009. According to the report, the economy grew by 3.5 percent in the 3rd quarter which is the best growth in two years. Much of this growth reported was supported by the spending and stimulus by the government on cars and homes. This signal ends a four quarter stretch of constricting or negative economic growth, but the most promising message in this is that it was better than expected.
Although I never claim to be an expert on commerce or the economy, I do know that there are a few factors that drive economic growth. The first is consumer confidence which I think we are starting to get back slowly. The second is supply and demand which is positive for the Real Estate market based on the distressed properties sold over the past 3 months. As those “great deals” become less of the total Real Estate inventory, traditional home sales will stabilize. We are already seeing this with the median home prices stabilizing. As I stated in an article published in May and again in June, we should see some great things out of this fourth quarter and into the first quarter of next year.
Jason M. Jakus is a licensed realtor for Leisure American Realty, a full service Real Estate and Property Management company serving the beaches and surrounding areas of Lee County. Their office is located at 2450 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach FL 33931. For more information on this or any other real estate or property management subject contact Jason at 239-463-3178 or email RealtyInfo@LeisureAmerican.com.