Thursday, May 21, 2009

Expectations vs. Reality of Selling a Home in a Recovering Economy

Approximately 10 houses in our neighborhood are for sale. The average price of the homes can be found on a few websites, zillow.com, eppraisal.com, and cyberhomes.com. Unfortunately they do not show the true sales prices b/c sellers concessions are not deducted on these sites. Property tax documents can also show the most recent sales price.

history of the average sale price of homes on our street
end of 1970's 40K
mid 1980's 70K
end of 1980's 90K
mid 1990's 105K
2003 130K
2004 180K
2007/8 200K

The uptrend of these houses was significant. One real estate agent was surprised that I realized that I would not be able to sell for the 2007 prices. Inflated home prices take a toll on families' life styles when the homes are no longer worth the same or higher amounts. Was 2007 the peak of the real estate boom? What does that mean for families who bought on the upswing and are trying to sell now?
When we purchased our most recent home, the seller's agent mentioned that he has sellers that are bringing money to settlement. Sort of frightening. The home owners are paying money to be let out of their housing commitments.
Could the housing market slump have been predicted?

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