Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Volume of Homes Sold Nationally Rose 3% In January 2007

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported some statistics regarding January home sales. It's the good news and not so good news scenario. First the good news: the volume of homes sold rose 3 % in January 2007 - the largest monthly percentage increase in two years. These figures are for already existing or previously owned homes sold. Okay and now the other news: the median price of those homes sold in January dropped to $210,600 which is apparently a 3.1 percent drop in median sale prices from January 2006. So more homes sold, that means people are still buying, but it also means it's still a buyers market and prices for buyers are better than they were a year ago.

I think it also means if you have owned your home a while, you can probably still expect a nice return on your investment if you decide you want to move. However, if you bought recently and are not forced to sell (new job, relocating, etc) then please wait, it's probably not the best idea to list your home at the moment. I think my rule of thumb still holds: if you want to move, or have to move, list your home and price it well and it will sell.

Keep in mind, these are National statistics and as always, real estate is local. Peace Out - 3C

2 comments:

Cosmokramur said...

How can a seller, who may not have access to comparables, ensure that a property is priced right?

Cleveland Carole Cohen 3C said...

A Realtor® who is experienced in the seller's neighborhood can provide a seller with sales (Sold) information on homes with specific amenities and style and location to the sellers home - this is the most accurate way to analyze a homes market value. You can use some of the 'tools' on line but people are finding that depending on the city and the neighborhood the 'value' listed is either really accurate or really inaccurate. A Realtor® can sit down with someone who is thinking about selling and go over sales in the past year, six months, three months, talk about what buyers were looking for, compare that home to homes sold; it's worth it to contact a professional when you want to sell.