Local Real Estate Update
Hello New Bern Neighbors!
Everywhere I go the common question from EVERYONE is "Is anything selling"???
I reply "Of course it is!", where is the message getting out that it is not???
What we know for sure is that our homes represent our single largest investment, personal security, and a chance to create our individual life styles. Home buyers and sellers will always continue to "up-size" due to larger families and "down-size" due to "empty nesters". Other reasons that real estate remains a constant include job changes, finances, schools, neighborhood changes, leaving area, newlyweds, retirement, etc, the list goes on and on.
So as you can see whether it is a "buyers" market or a "sellers" market, real estate is a constant. There are indeed times that we have more sellers than buyers (like now), but 5 years ago it was just the opposite with increasing buyer traffic causing "multiple offers" on limited inventory. Real estate is a "cyclical business" as Gary Keller, co-founder of Keller Williams Realty, states in his book SHIFT. What goes up must come down. And what is down won't stay there, that is the news you and I want to hear.
You often hear your Realtor@ professional speak of the best times of the year to put your home on the market. There is a natural build up of home inventory from January thru April, and a decline in inventory May through October. Realtors@ for years have advised their clients "the best months" in their local areas to buy and sell their homes. While seasonal cycles occur within a single year, economic shifts happen over several years. Economic shifts feel unpredictable, indefinite, and overwhelming, and is most definitely a challenge.
How long will this last? Will real estate values ever be the same as 05? Who knows? We simply must deal with the "market at hand" and make the best of it. The sellers that are clinging on to the "saving my equity" mentality will find that they will stay put in their existing homes for quite some time. The sellers who "get it" will listen to their real estate professional and take heed to their advice so they can move on with their lives. The upside to selling in a down market is that you get the "gift" of buying at a record low price. Affordability is at a record low. So really is it a loss? Or a trade-off of equity?
Remember the most important thing is not the "house" but the impact your necessary sale will make on your family, your health, and financial future. That is what you cannot put a price on...
Until next month,
Donna Harmatuk
Real Estate Consultant
New Bern, NC
