Is there a twinkle of hope on the horizon???

If you listen to the media... we are still in a housing slump. They love to cause chaos and fear. It's all for the ratings... NAR (National Association of REALTORS (r) has released statements that this seems to be as low as it gets. (it may stay flat but won't get worse) The word must be getting around. In my little world, I am starting to see more and more activity happening. My phone is beginning to ring again. (Here I have be blaming Verizon all this time.) Historically, this time of year is slow, regardless of the market conditions. But I am seeing more activity with my colleagues also.

Looking at the condos from last month there was an increase in contracts over last year. A 43.5% jump actually... This is a good sign of things to come. Inventory in Frederick and Washington counties seem to be dropping off (1675 active listings). A couple things could be happening here... Sellers are waiting for the spring market or they have dropped anchor and decided to stay awhile. The sales have not lowered the inventory, the sellers have. Hopefully this leveling is stays steady for a while. Too much inventory is not healthy either. As for the prices, surprisingly the average is still up in Frederick by just a little. Average Sales price is $347,386 and the median sales price is down by 2.04% to $311,950. So, what does that say? Buyers are looking at a lower price range, but the prices of the house are about the same as last year. What I am seeing in most prices, yes some are lowering in overpriced neighborhoods, but for the most part it is not the value of the home that is going down, its the seller's situations. If you haven't been paying attention to the media (they are right about one thing), the first steps of the ARMs are starting to appear. Some sellers cannot afford the increase, forcing them to price below market price. The other situation, sellers have been caught up in between houses (new construction homes)...forcing them to drop the price to get a buyer. Builders don't care what your situation is...they built a house for you...you're buying it. Now, builders have also found themselves in a sticky situation with too much inventory on the books. They have deeper pockets than most sellers, so they offer 1000s of dollars in upgrades on their already drastically reduced homes in order to get a sale before the end of the year. Unfortunately this has/will have affected your future appraisals and prices along with the other seller's personal situations. There is no getting by it. When you gotta go, you gotta go.

It will be interesting to see what the spring market has to offer. Stay tuned for more!!!

Here are some stats from last month in Frederick County

Washington County last month;

105 solds
1245 active listings
113 Days on Market
91.2% of list price.

Washington county is also seeing buyers looking at much lower priced homes. The average was down by 2.82% to $248,904 with a median price of $225,000 (down 4.26%) You can count on one hand how many homes over $450,000 sold last month.