Monday, May 21, 2007

The changing market

2007 has been the year for the "normalizing" of the marketplace. To some who waited too long to cash in on their equity, this is very bad news. However for new buyers, there could be no better time to jump into the real estate game. Prices are low, low, low. The drastic price reductions seem to be coming to an end. One of the areas most affected is the new builder spec homes, which are now selling for much less than they would have last year. This has slowed down construction considerably in the southwest Florida area. Why wait a year to build a new home when there are 200 new complete homes to choose from?
One of the areas least affected still seem to be the luxury homes. Although prices have dropped, the sellers seem to be in a position to wait out the market a little longer so are not nearly as inclined to drop their price quickly. Although the prices are good for first time homebuyers, the mortgage companies are tightening their belts, so some buyers that may have qualified last year might not this time around. Overall, we speculate that we will all see an upturn in the market by the end of 2007. We may not see the huge appreciations in value that we saw in the past, but we will all breathe a sigh of relief to see the downturn go away.
(hopefully for another 20 years or so)

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