January 23rd, 2012 10:48 AM by Rob Robbins
Some positive signs for 2012. We saw a slight improvement in home sales starting in October last year and it seems to be building some momentum through the winter. That is a good sign.
Last year over 35% of our sales were cash which is unheard of in our market over the last several years.
Our inventory has dropped dramatically since the end of 2011 which is a good thing. Buyers had been confused and frustrated with all the homes on the market. The inventory has not been this low since 2006 when property was selling about as fast as it was listed.
Other markets are starting to improve which helps our buyers to purchase here. Most of the sales I had this past year were people finally selling their home somewhere else.
Several people have lost jobs or have reduced incomes which has reduced their ability to purchase. Several folks have lost their homes and can not get financing. This has created a boom in the rental market for residential homes and management companies have waiting lists for rental homes. A careful investor can do well right now.
Condo sales are still slow with a large inventory for the amount of sales. Several finance companies do not loan on condos since the financial meltdown which has directly reduced the values.
Land sales are very slow. Almost no development going on right now.
Commercial sales are still slow and we expect that to continue through 2012.
We need residential listings since most of ours have sold. Please tell a friend to give us a call. We are excited to talk with them.
Rob
