March Home Sales and First-Time Homebuyer Impact
Sales are down
March’s national home sale numbers are in, and as they say in the movies, there’s good news and bad news. Based on data from a National Association of Realtors report released last week, sales of existing homes went down from 4.71 million units (units include condos, co-ops, townhouses and single family homes) in February to 4.57 million in March, a 3% drop. To put 2009’s falling sales numbers in perspective, there were 4.92 million existing-home sales in March 2008, 7.1% more than this year. In light of the struggling economy, a drop in sales makes complete sense: with jobs disappearing, many are hesitant to commit themselves to a mortgage they’re worried about being able to pay a few years (or worse, a few months) down the line. The silver lining here is that many homes are now available for less than they would be in a good economy, when demand for property would be high. In fact, homes went for 12.4% less in March 2008 than they did in March 2009, at an average price of $175,200.
First-time buyers to the rescue
We’ve been saying for a while that, contrary to popular belief, now may be the right time to pull the trigger on a refurbished home, especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer. According to the numbers in the report, first-timers accounted for 53% of all sales, a percentage that’s likely to get a lot higher since the $8000 tax credit provided by the government had only recently become available by the time these statistics were compiled. As more people begin to take advantage of this offer, it’s likely that first-time homebuyers will continue to establish themselves as the driving force behind the real estate market.
Our purpose in presenting you with these numbers is to make sure you know how things stand around the country as you decide how to proceed. If you’d like to learn more about the homes we have available, get in touch with us here at www.ExpressRs.com.
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