Breaking Real Estate News….the much respected Case-Shiller housing index numbers are out and reflect increase in overall sales…

So, the big question is…..are we really at the bottom of the housing market?

The headlines you will be reading about the S&P/ Case Shiller housing numbers do not tell the complete picture…as Realtors you know that the information contained in the housing index reports reflects what has happened…not what IS happening. You know that in many markets the home prices have reached bottom, in come cases prices are actually increasing (slightly)…..and still, in many markets values are still sliding.

What you need to be focused on now is…what will happen next…what will the next 6-12 months mean to your real estate market.

Take a look at the market breakdowns, month to month, seasonally adjusted vs. non-seasonally adjusted.

Seasonally adjusted the gains have leveled off significantly.

Why?

Because people buy homes in the spring and summer. Generally speaking there is a strong surge of buying in the spring, before kids go back to school and in November with folks buying before the holidays.

In the winter the market is dominated by the most motivated buyers…typically investors doing an exchange or relocation buyers.

These buying trends have been true forever. Unless you sell in a vacation home area….Sedona etc…your market cycle follows that pattern.

This year we had the benefit of the ‘first-time’ home buyers credit. And the very low and easier to obtain FHA mortgages.

The credit created up to 350,000 additional real estate transactions with all those ‘first-time’ buyers rushing to buy to grab the $8000 (max) tax credit. One could argue that the added demand for the lower priced homes created more demand than supply. In many markets there were bidding wars as buyers competed for the depleted inventory of FHA finace-able homes. Thus, the $8000 a buyer ’saved’ in taxes they ended up paying in the purchase price of their home.

But, the bottom line is that there were 350,000 home sales…and that is a good thing.

Remember, to use the tax credit the buyer has to close before November 30th. We have been sharing with you tip and techniques how to make money from the this government program now…how to motivate your clients to take action. Listen to these free audio messages now.

So, lets assume this program isn’t renewed in November (we don’t think it will be). What does that do to the housing markets? Add to this the fact that the states foreclosure moratoriums have ended…the lenders have stated that they are going to speed up foreclosures…..what happens if interest rates increase? . Did you know that the FHA is going to be tightening lending standards?

What will happen next? More importantly, what will YOU do now to prepare yourself for the next 12 months.

There is now an estimate out there that rising foreclosures will add 7 million homes to the for-sale inventory over the next two years. Inventories of new and existing construction have been falling, but that could U-turn this fall, as foreclosures rise, banks let go of the homes that didn’t qualify for modifications, and job losses push good quality borrowers into default.

Tell us what you are doing now to prepare yourself for what is happening next….

Coming soon: the 5 New Rules Of Real Estate…How to Prepare for 2010.

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