Posts Tagged ‘il’
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
The financial turmoil we have experienced over the last five years has definitely taken it’s toll. It has especially been a difficult time for real estate. Nationally, values have fallen over 25% and there may be more softening in prices to come. We realize that this has caused difficulty, and in some cases, heartbreak for many families. People unable to make their mortgage payments have been forced to sell or, even worse, have faced foreclosure.
However, the thing that has continued to amaze us is the country’s steadfast belief in the benefits of homeownership even in these most difficult of times. The vast majority of Americans still realize that the value of a family owning a home goes far beyond just the financial considerations.
There have been three major surveys done in the last 75 days delving into Americans’ current belief in the value of owning a home:
- The National Housing Survey by Fannie Mae this past November.
- The Housing Survey by the Gallup Organization completed last month.
- The American’s Attitudes About Homeownership (AAAH) study completed by Harris Interactive for the National Association of Realtors.
Each showed the country still believes that buying a home makes all the sense in the world. Let’s consider some of the findings:
Is owning a home good for a family?
- In the AAAH study, 87% of homeowners and 64% of renters believed that “owning a home provides a healthy and stable environment for raising a family”.
- The Fannie Mae study showed that the main reason people gave for buying a home is that “it is a good place to raise children and provide a good education”.
Has owning a home been a positive experience?
- AAAH: The study shows that an astonishing 88% say it has been “a positive or very positive experience”. An overwhelming majority of home owners are happy with their decision to own a home. A full 93% of owners surveyed would buy again.
- Fannie Mae: The study shows that 95% see homeownership as a “positive experience” for them and their families.
Do renters aspire to own a home?
- AAAH: Most renters aspire to home ownership. The majority of renters (63%) say they are at least somewhat likely to purchase a home at some point in the future. Among them, young adults (18- to 24-years-old) have the strongest aspirations for home ownership.
- Fannie Mae: 67% of renters plan to purchase a home in the future.
Is now a good time to buy a home?
- AAAH: 78% of homeowners and 58% of renters believe now is a good time to buy.
- Fannie Mae: 64% of those surveyed said it is a good time to buy a home.
- Gallup Poll: 67% of Americans think now is a good time to purchase a home.
Bottom Line
Surveys after survey report Americans believe two things: that there is a value in owning a home and that now is the time to buy!! What are you waiting for?
Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the real estate market!
Tags: agents, buying, caroline ruhl, first time buyers, home, home buyer programs, home search, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa real estate, Iowa Real Estate Market, multiple listing service, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Real Estate Sales Volume, realtors, regional markets, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume
Posted in Tips & Hints | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has been reporting great news recently. Last week’s Existing Home Sales Report and this week’s Pending Sales Report both showed consecutive months of increases in the number of homes sold. Finally, buyers are jumping off the fence and taking advantage of one of the most opportune times to purchase a home in America’s real estate history. With an increase in demand, price appreciation can’t be far behind, can it?
Actually, the answer is NO! Prices are not determined by demand alone but in the relationship of demand to available supply. The inventory of homes for sale is still too high and about to surge higher. Along with the news of increased demand yesterday, RealtyTrac released their 2010 Year-End Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report. The report showed that distressed properties across the country are on the rise:
… foreclosure levels remained five to 10 times higher than historic norms in most hard-hit markets, where deep fault lines of risk remain and could potentially trigger more waves of foreclosure activity in 2011 and beyond.
The report also explained that the foreclosure epidemic is spreading to more and more of our communities:
… foreclosures became more widespread in 2010 as high unemployment drove activity up in 72 percent of the nation’s metro areas — many of which were relatively insulated from the initial foreclosure tsunami.
What does this mean for prices?
Here are a few quotes from this week.
Washington Post:
The closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller report shows that housing prices, compared year-over-year, have declined nationally for six consecutive months. The downward path suggests that housing prices could, by spring, hit their lowest level since April 2009, said David Blitzer, the index committee’s chairman.
New York Times:
A new slide in housing prices has begun in earnest, with averages in major cities across the country falling to their lowest point in many years.
CNN Money:
Barclay’s Bank analyst Theresa Chen doesn’t expect a reversal in housing market trends any time soon, since there is no end in sight to the foreclosure crisis.
“We expect softness to persist,” she said, “as home prices continue to face headwinds from the large pipeline of foreclosures entering the market.”
Housing Wire:
“… we believe that home prices will continue to weaken on a month-over-month basis until spring, and a year-over-year basis through the end of 2011,” the Radar Logic said.
Bottom Line
Prices will continue to soften in the first half of 2011 in most regions of the country. This information should be taken into consideration if you plan on selling your house in the next twelve months.
Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the real estate market!
Originally Published By: KCM Blog
Tags: 2011 home sales, 2011 housing market, 2011 market, agents, buying, caroline ruhl, davenport, eastern iowa, home, home prices, home search, housing market, housing prices, ia, il, illinois real estate, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa real estate, Iowa Real Estate Market, multiple listing service, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Real Estate Sales Volume, realtors, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume, selling, selling incentive
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Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
The Quad-City housing market remains strong, according to the annual prediction of a national real estate firm.
Housing Predictor, an independent real estate research firm based in Destin, Fla., ranked the Quad-City region 24th on its Best 25 Real Estate Markets, according to editor Mike Colpitts. The ranking looked at 234 U.S. markets.
The survey evaluated the Quad-City multiple listing service, or MLS, which includes Scott, Rock Island, Mercer and Henry counties.
“We are doing OK. This prediction is coming out at the worst time of the year and we are still leading the pack,” Shane Johnson, chief executive officer of the Quad-City Area Realtor Association, said.
“The winter months are normally slow in the real estate industry,” said Michael Banks, chairman of the association. “This year, however, things are bubbling more than they have in the past.”
Portland, Maine, topped the list with projected appreciation in local home values rising 3.6 percent in 2011. The Quad-Cities had projected appreciation of 2.5 percent in the coming year.
Colpitts said Housing Predictor did an updated forecast for 2010 in August and the Quad-City MLS ranked 19th with a projected 4.2 increase for 2010. By the end of the year, the market actually finished at 3.3 percent, he said.
“That was 3.3 percent for the market for the full year. That is still a pretty good forecast when compared to the majority of country,” he said.
“The Quad-City area is recovering more quickly than much of the nation, in part, because local lenders and Realtors, perhaps tempered by Midwestern values, were more careful in their practices than those from other cities,” Johnson said. “And, generally our market is more stable which allows us to avoid the huge swings that have played havoc in other areas.”
More than 15 states are projected to experience housing appreciation during the year, based on the annual report. Four Iowa cities were listed among the 25 best markets: Iowa City, seventh at 3.2 percent; Cedar Rapids, 22nd at 2.6 percent; Des Moines, 23rd also at 2.6 percent.
“While these numbers don’t approach the gains we’ve seen in the past, it is encouraging to see improvements in our market and to see where we stand nationally,” Banks said in a news release.
The list of the 25 worst housing markets for 2011 was topped by Bend, Ore., with anticipated reduction in home values of minus 11.5 percent. Rounding out the bottom five were Las Vegas; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Miami, and Medford, Ore.
Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the Quad Cities real estate market!
Article Published in the Quad City Business Journal, January 21, 2011.
Tags: agents, caroline ruhl, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids housing market, davenport, dubuque housing market, eastern iowa, home buyer programs, home sales, home search, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, illinois real estate communities, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa real estate, iowa real estate communities, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Real Estate Sales Volume, realtors, regional markets, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume
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Thursday, January 13th, 2011
You would think that with the housing crisis in full swing that there would be so many homes available to rent that rental prices would go down. Seeing the recent numbers from HotPads you would be wrong.
The average rental price in 2010 increased by 11.6% during the year.
That is a huge jump on many levels:
- For families on a fixed income, that extra rent keeps people from spending their money on other things.
- New couples that are saving to buy are seeing higher rents that push them that much further from their goal.
- Meanwhile, there are the families that have lost their homes in foreclosure who are in the rental pool that now are paying the increased rent and squeezing their household budgets that much more.
The one good news out the of report is that with housing prices going down and rental prices going down, the Rent-Buy ratio is shrinking. From a rent to buy ratio in 2009 of 15.66 we are now down to a 12.64 at the end of 2010. That means that when families are looking at the cost of buying versus renting they will be more inclined to buy.
As an industry we need buyers to absorb the inventory we are sitting on. Till that day, housing prices will not firm up on a nationwide level and there will be an increased demand for rental units. It is a market and the equilibrium will need to be re-established after the housing boom so all is not lost.
It is just taking longer than any of us expected…
The rental price increase is a factor of uncertainty in the US economic climate, which has forced a transition from a home buying mentality to one more in favor of renting. The growing number of homes lost to foreclosure in 2010 expanded the number of people seeking to rent, creating a renter surplus.
Further, with the US unemployment rate over 9% throughout 2010 (up from 4% in 2006), low risk housing options became more desirable, a trend which may continue in the coming months.
At the same time, HotPads expects to see foreclosed and long standing for sale properties re-enter the market as rentals, which should expand the rental supply, thereby helping ease rent prices. This represents an interesting contrast to the peak of the housing market in 2006, when rental units were being converted into for-sale condos.
If you are contemplating renting vs. buying Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS would love to help. We have plenty of buyer resources located on our website; RuhlHomes.com as well as our large group of Real Estate Agents located in 8 Real Estate Markets from the Quad Cities to Cedar Rapids. Let us help you make this transition easy and worry free.
Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the real estate market.
Some statistics and information provided by: The Real Estate Bloggers & HotPads
Tags: agents, buying, caroline ruhl, first time buyers, home buyer programs, home renters, home search, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa real estate, Iowa Real Estate Market, property management, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Real Estate, realtors, regional markets, rental, rental prices, rental unit, renter, renting, renting vs. buying, ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume
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Friday, January 7th, 2011
If you are thinking about purchasing a home right now, you are surely getting a lot of advice. And most of that advice is probably negative. Why buy now with prices still falling? Don’t you realize real estate is no longer a good investment? Don’t you know that people who bought five years ago lost their shirt? We understand the concern your friends and family have. However, let’s look at whether or not now is actually the perfect time to buy a home.
There are three questions you should ask before purchasing in today’s market:
1. Why should I buy if house prices are still depreciating?
We believe that in most parts of the country prices will in fact soften in 2011. Price is the major concern for anyone selling a home. When you are buying, COST should be your primary concern however. Your monthly payment (cost) is definitely impacted by the price of the home you purchase. The other major component is the interest rate. Waiting for prices to bottom out while rates are increasing can wind up costing you more over the life of the mortgage.
Over the last seven weeks, rates have increased over 1/2 a point going from 4.17 to 4.86. Waiting for prices to bottom out seems to make perfect sense. Yet, at a time when rates are increasing, it might NOT make sense. Make sure to have a mortgage professional help you with the math before making a decision, 1862 mortgage is here to help! Contact 1862 Mortgage with all your mortgage or financial needs.
2. When will I begin to see appreciation if I buy now?
This is a great question. Macro Markets, LLC is a company that studies housing prices. They started their Home Price Expectation Survey in 2010. They ask 100+ housing industry experts to project housing prices through 2015. The most current survey shows that the experts are predicting prices to soften until 2012. The experts then project prices to rise reaching a cumulative appreciation of over 10% by 2015.
Purchasing a home today makes great sense from a financial standpoint. Think of the old axiom: You want to buy low and sell high. We may be at the low point regarding the COST of a home. But, this decision should not only be a financial one.
That leads me to my third and final question:
3. Why am I buying a home in the first place?
This truly is the most important question to answer. Forget the finances for a minute. Why did you even begin to consider purchasing a home? For most, the reason has nothing to do with finances. The Fannie Mae National Housing Survey shows that the four major reasons people buy a home have nothing to do with money:
- A good place to raise children and for them to get a good education
- A place where you and your family feel safe
- More space for you and your family
- Control of the space
What non-financial benefits will you and your family derive from owning a home? The answer to that question should be the reason whether you decide to purchase or not.
Bottom Line
The COST of a home will probably remain relatively unchanged even if prices continue to depreciate. Don’t allow money to get in the way of you making the right decision for you and your family. In the long run, the finances will work in your favor anyway.
Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the real estate market!
Some information and statistics provided by: KCM Blog
Tags: 1862, 1862 Mortgage, 3 questions, agents, before buying a home, buying, Buying a Home, caroline ruhl, eastern iowa, first time buyers, getting pre approved, home, home buyer programs, home search, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa city area, iowa real estate, Iowa Real Estate Market, Mobile Ruhl, multiple listing service, purchasing a home, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, quad city, Real Estate, Real Estate Sales Volume, realtors, regional markets, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume
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Friday, December 17th, 2010
With all the teeth-gnashing over the real estate bubble, the bust and the mortgage mess, you can be forgiven for failing to notice this little tidbit: Housing had a superb decade. In fact, the value of a square foot of housing in the U.S. is up 58% from its January 2000 level, according to data from New York housing analytics firm Radar Logic on the 25 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. That represents an average annual gain of 4.3% in the value of one square foot of housing. While the average gain was impressive, some cities did exceedingly well while others languished. New York came out best of all, with home values rising 6.2% a year, thanks in large part to the explosion in Wall Street wealth. Homes in New York now cost 91% more per square foot than they did in 2000. Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., weren’t far behind, rising 85% and 72%, respectively. Who lagged behind? The usual suspect, Detroit, was the big loser, shedding an average of 3.3% a year during the decade. Houses in and around the Motor City cost 33% less per square foot than they did in January 2000. Las Vegas’ hammering has left houses there 11% cheaper. Cleveland came in third worst, down 9% for the decade.
Keep checking RuhlHomes.com for the most up to date information on the Quad Cities real estate market!
Tags: 10, agents, caroline ruhl, davenport, decade of housing market, eastern iowa, home, home search, housing market, Housing Market Decade, housing market in 10 years, ia, il, illinois real estate, illinois real estate communities, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa real estate, Iowa Real Estate Market, multiple listing service, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate, Real Estate Sales Volume, regional markets, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume, ten years
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Monday, December 13th, 2010
Home prices continue to be stable in our markets in eastern Iowa, while the rest of the nation experiences declines.
Nationally home prices have fallen 8.36% in the last five years, but all of our markets’ prices are up: 9.25% in Dubuque; 7.22% in the Quad Cities; 5.68% in Cedar Rapids; and 5.43% in Iowa City.
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, of the 299 MSA’s (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) ranked by home price appreciation, all of our markets ranked in the top third in the nation – Quad Cities at 29th; Cedar Rapids at 72nd; Dubuque at 80th; and Iowa City at 95th.
Our local markets continue to provide much more stable home prices, showcasing our real estate strength compared to the rest of the country. Real estate continues to be a great investment in our region – based on the appreciation in our markets over the past five years.
A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company. Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 250 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bellevue, Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com .
Tags: agents, buying, caroline ruhl, davenport, eastern iowa, home, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, illinois real estate communities, iowa city area, iowa real estate, iowa real estate communities, Iowa Real Estate Market, multiple listing service, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Real Estate Sales Volume, realtors, regional markets, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume
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Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
It is amazing how masses of people can believe something that is absolutely untrue. I mean, at one time the vast majority of people believed the world to be flat. Today, we want to debunk another commonly held belief – that newspapers sell houses. Somehow this notion gained believability even though the facts consistently prove it NOT to be true.
We should know what methods prospective purchasers use to find the home of their dreams when we are selling homes. This enables us to develop the best marketing strategy to attract a buyer. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has just released the 2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, which is recognized by most as the best compilation of data on today’s buyers and sellers because of the enormous amount of data available.
It might interest everyone to know that less than 2% looked in newspapers, magazines or home buying guides when starting the search process. What do most buyers do?
Buyers today want to explore their options online (combined 47%) or check with Real Estate Professionals (combined 27%). You might be ready to argue that the use of internet is a new phenomenon over the past year or so. However, the report looks back over the last nine years. Though it is true that the percentage of those using the internet has dramatically increased (from 8% to 37%), it might interest you that even back in 2001 only 9% of buyers found their home through print media (again, this is now 2%).
The buyer is attracted to the type of sites that have the greatest number of listings. These sites are normally generated by the real estate industry. As a seller you should make sure your home is on as many of these sites as possible-that will give you the best chance of attracting a buyer. Ruhl&Ruhl listings are shared on RuhlHomes.com, REALTOR.com, FrontDoor.com, Trulia.com and some of our markets share their listings on their Multiple Listing Service search websites as well.
Print media never was a great way to market a house for sale and its effectiveness is diminishing each year. Meet with a local Ruhl&Ruhl REALTOR and put together an internet marketing strategy worthy of your home. Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS collects data from all of the local markets through the use of client surveys. Contact a Ruhl&Ruhl agent today to have this data shared with you.
Bottom Line, if you want to develop a great marketing strategy to give your house maximum exposure, forget newspapers and look toward the internet.
Courtesy of: KCM
Tags: agents, buying, caroline ruhl, davenport, eastern iowa, first time buyers, home buyer programs, home marketing, home search, housing market, ia, il, internet marketing, Iowa Real Estate Market, marketing strategy, marketing your home, multiple listing service, prospective purchasers, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate News, Real Estate Sales Volume, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume
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Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Scott County year-to-date new house sales, as reported by the Quad City Area Realtor Association’s Multiple Listing Service, have shown a 27.6% increase in unit sales, when compared with the first ten months of sales in 2009.
The month of October saw exactly the same number of both closed and pended new house sales as recorded during October of 2009. Houses in the $225,000-$300,000 and $300,000-$400,000 prices ranges continued to show the strongest growth with a combined growth of over 32% more sales than the same period in 2009. While house sales above $400,000 have not increased, recent sales have picked up to the point where the 2010 figures are nearly now the same as 2009. While sales are up, overall new house inventory is about 10% below the levels of this time last year.
Sales of new condos in Scott County have not kept pace with new house sales, as overall unit sales have slipped 11.4%, compared to the first ten months of last year. Condo sales remain heavily concentrated in the under $300,000 price range. Despite slowed sales, the number of available new condos in inventory is 37.5% lower than at the same time in 2009.
Overall, combined sales of new homes and condos remain 13% above the figures reported a year ago.
A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company. Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 250 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com .
Tags: agents, Building, buying, caroline ruhl, condo sales, davenport, Davenport NOW, eastern iowa, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, illinois real estate communities, Illinois Real Estate Market, iowa real estate, iowa real estate communities, Iowa Real Estate Market, new construction, New Construction Home Sales, new house sales, QCARA, quad cities, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Quad City Area Realtor Association, Real Estate, Real Estate Sales Volume, regional markets, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume, Scott County
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Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
We’re there! Most economists are saying the economy has bottomed out. Seize the opportunity while interest rates are at a 50 year low. (Today, as I write this article, October 12th, interest rates are at 4.125% for a 30-year loan with no points and at 3.75% for a 15-year loan with no points. And for smart people who refinance from a 30-year loan to a 15-year loan, borrowers can pay about 60% less interest over the life of the loan and build their equity faster.)
With what we know today, how many times have you kicked yourself because you could have bought a property in the past? I just told my CFO these rates and heard him say he’s considering refinancing his house at 3.75% to buy a rental property. This is an opportunity not to be missed.
The Next Six Months – Sellers Must Have Compelling Pricing
The next six months will be challenging for sellers and Realtors, but will present the best opportunities for buyers and investors. By next spring we anticipate the economy will stabilize, consumer confidence will be bolstered by job increases, and prices hopefully will have bottomed out and turned upward in some markets and price ranges.
Most of our markets are buyer’s markets, which is defined as a market in which there is more than six months of inventory. Prices tend to fall if there is too much inventory. If there are 0 – 3 months of inventory, that is a seller’s market and homes are appreciating, while 4 – 6 months of inventory is considered a balanced market and prices are stable.
Here is a sampling of our markets’ months of inventory, also referred to as absorption rates: Market Months of Inventory
Cedar Rapids 8.8 months
Clinton/Camanche/Fulton 9.8 months
Dubuque 7.8 months
Iowa City 16.6 months
Iowa Quad Cities 6 months
Illinois Quad Cities 8 months
Muscatine/Wilton 8.5 months
Each market also varies significantly based on price range, new construction versus existing properties, neighborhoods, condos versus single family homes, etc. Sellers and buyers need to work with their Realtors to make educated pricing decisions based on months of inventory in their niche markets.
In Order For a Property to Sell, It Must Have Compelling (not Competitive) Pricing
Compelling pricing has a powerful and irresistible effect; it commands attention, admiration and respect. It is convincing, persuasive and undeniable, which makes it “the pick of the litter.” Competitive pricing is a reasonable, viable and good price. But it’s also in line with the price of many other properties with similar features, which makes it part of the “sea of sameness.” Sellers must ask their Realtors how to make their price a compelling price that buyers won’t be able to resist.
Be Prepared for More Negative Media
Be prepared for more negative media reports on the housing market, and do not take the headlines and stories at face value. Sales in the past 18 months have been totally manipulated by tax credits. So the media will compare unseasonably great sales last year in September, October and November – just prior to the expiration of the tax credit on November 30, 2009 – to this year’s fall sales, which will be more “normal.” They will make it sound awful, when in fact last fall’s numbers were inflated.
Likewise, because of the 2010 tax credit that required deals be written by April 30th and closed by June 30th, many sales were accelerated into the first half of 2010, reducing the number of sales in the fall. Responsible media must do their homework and provide the necessary interpretation of the data. Realtors can help the public make good, data driven decisions.
A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company. Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 250 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.
Tags: agents, Building, buying, caroline ruhl, davenport, eastern iowa, first time buyers, home, home buyer programs, home search, housing market, ia, il, illinois real estate, illinois real estate communities, iowa real estate communities, Iowa Real Estate Market, multiple listing service, new construction, New Construction Home Sales, Quad Cities Real Estate, Quad Cities Real Estate Market, Real Estate, Real Estate News, Real Estate Sales Volume, realtors, regional markets, resession, ruhl, Ruhl and Ruhl, ruhl&ruhl, Ruhl&Ruhl Market Share, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, RuhlHomes, sales volume, selling
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The financial turmoil we have experienced over the last five years has definitely taken it’s toll. It has especially been a difficult time for real estate. Nationally, values have fallen over 25% and there may be more softening in prices to come. We realize that this has caused difficulty, and in some cases, heartbreak for many families. People unable to make their mortgage payments have been forced to sell or, even worse, have faced foreclosure.
