I have just finished compiling the sales data for October and the picture is not any prettier than it has been. A quick look reveals that the lower the sales price the faster the market is moving. The market is substantially slow when the sales price goes above $450,000.

There is a 5 month supply of homes priced under $200,000 while the supply balloons to over three years for homes priced over $800,000.

I will be digging deeper into the numbers in the month ahead. Check back here soon to get a more complete picture of what the market is telling us. All the best, Jeff

In the current market, appraisers are catching quite a bit of heat from lenders. As the foreclosure rate is escalating, appraisers are being forced to take a more conservative stance in valuations.

What does this mean to you as a homeowner?
If you have a home in “average” condition and your home’s value is near the average price for a home of its size in the neighborhood, you should be fine when selling. The problems often come when you have a home that does not have recent comparable sales in the neighborhood to support your price. Homes that are trying to set the highest sales price for a neighborhood are facing tough times getting supporting valuations from appraisers.

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New homes sales were up nationally in April by 16.2% over March 2007. The south was the strongest region in the country, with sales up a whopping 27.8% over the previous month. This sound good at first read but is it?

I reviewed the sales figures for April resale homes in our area and they showed basically no improvement over March. The market is staying pretty much the same, not bad but not rip roaring either. So what is going on with new home sales? Read the rest of this entry »