As we all know, this is a challenging real estate market. It seems that we cannot open a newspaper or turn on the radio without someone talking about the doom and gloom of the housing industry.
Unfortunately, the message the media is missing is that this is an excellent time for buyers looking to purchase a home. There are great housing opportunities for today's educated, informed buyers.
When Jim Cramer (Mad Money, CNBC) went on the news last week and told the nation "Do not buy a house," he´s right. If you plan on playing the housing market.
However, for buyers looking to purchase a home-a home where they will live, raise a family, and make an investment in themselves and their quality of life, this is an excellent time to buy. Buying a house should be a long term investment and when viewed over the long term, the market perspective and performance looks much better.
Let´s take a moment to look at the market during the last 10 years. If you purchased a home in the city of Washington in 1997 for the average selling price of $202,000, that home would have an average selling price of $537,000 in today´s market. That is an increase of 166%. Other examples include a Vienna home that sold in 1997 for $410,000 and sold this year for $1,099,000 or a home in Prince George´s County which sold for $155,000 in 1997 and sold in 2007 for $339,000.
The point is, even though the market has slowed during the past two years, the average buyer who purchased a home 10 years ago has seen their home more than double in value.
What we are seeing now is a normalizing correction or adjustment in the housing market. The real estate industry has been through this before. During the past 30 years, we have been through four market contractions which were followed by up cycles that typically last three to six years. The last increasing cycle lasted 10 years.
With real estate, it is always important to keep the market conditions in perspective a market correction provides a stabilizing, sustainable platform which provides many excellent opportunities for both buyers and sellers.
Inventory and selection for buyers is very positive. Additionally, mortgage rates are historically low. Our local economy is strong, and our area enjoys an unemployment rate of 3%, well below the national average. Buyers who are waiting to time the market based on media messages may very well miss the opportunity to own the home of their dreams.
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If you currently own property and are thinking of placing it on the market, this site contains information about preparing your home for sale, selecting the right agent, pricing your home appropriately, marketing it effectively, going through the inspection processes, and receiving a timely market evaluation.
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