We have experienced another sign that the market is continuing in recovery mode....the May slow-down!  At least it feels that there is a slow down. While the sales in Carmel remain brisk, we are seeing a tendency toward normal in the market.

In Indiana we have a seasonal selling time for real estate.  The market tends to pick up around the end of February and continues to build steam until June where it is hot and heavy through the month of August when we see a slowing of sales.  This is the time when most families are wanting to make their move and generally speaking, most everyone would rather move during the warmer months that tackle a move during the snow storms or bitter cold of the Indiana winter.  Once the kids get back in school we see continue to see moderate sales as those last few buyers find their new home so they can get settled before the cold sets in.  

However, one caveat to that is the month of May.  Historically, the month of May, for whatever reason...be it graduations, Mother's Day, the end of school...tends to be a slower month for sales.  At least that was the old norm.  Going forward, we'll just have to see if this holds true but I personally want to say this is a sign that we are getting some serious recovery!  And that is great news!

3 Reasons Your Home May Be Worth More Than You Think!

Today’s housing market is very different from the market of the last few years.
 

Homeowners in the last 5 or 6 years seemed to fall into two camps: One group found themselves underwater, owing more on their mortgage than the property was worth. Many of these homeowners were in danger of losing their home to foreclosure. The other group, due to dramatic decreases in the value of real estate, had to put off moving into new homes because the equity they had built up in their current home had all but evaporated.

For homeowners in both of these groups, it is understandable that they’d be hesitant to sell their homes today after the roller coaster of the past few years. However, the reality of today’s market is that home values have increased, in some markets dramatically, and it might just be the perfect time to sell.

Your home might be worth more than you think. Here are three reasons why.

1. There are Fewer Distressed Homeowners
One of the big reasons why prices dropped so dramatically in the first place is because millions of homeowners, hit hard by the recession and falling prices, could no longer afford their mortgage. Facing foreclosure, they attempted to sell only to find that the value of their home was less than they owed on them.

These homeowners are called “distressed” homeowners, and to date there have been millions in this situation. Today, however, distressed homeowners may find themselves in a much better position!

However, according to the National Association of REALTORS, distressed sales are at their lowest point since 2008, when the foreclosure crisis started. This means distressed sales are no longer affecting the market as strongly. Non-distressed sellers today find themselves in a much better position than at any point since the housing crisis began.

2. Prices have increased
Many homeowners may not realize it, considering how far the real estate market fell when the housing bubble burst, but in the past 12 months, prices have actually rebounded at a fairly remarkable pace.

In fact, according to the National Association of REALTORS, prices rose 11.8% year over year in March of 2013. This is the biggest yearly increase in prices since November of 2005, when the market was near its peak.

For homeowners, this incredible increase in prices means that much of the value that was lost during the housing crisis may have returned, and people who put off selling their homes are beginning to see the value of their properties arrive at levels where selling makes sense again.

For people who were underwater, this is welcome news. These homeowners may very well have equity again for the first time in years. For people who had planned on moving up into a bigger home but held off because the value of their current home was too low, these price increases are a sign that it may be time to start considering moving up again. But price increases aren’t only reason why selling today might make sense.

3. Housing Inventory is Low, and the Number of Buyers is Growing
Generally speaking, the real estate market needs about 6 months of inventory in order to keep up with normal supply and demand. This means that at the current rate of sales, it would take 6 months for all of the homes for sale in the market to get sold.

In today’s market, there is significantly less inventory than that. In fact, nationally there is about 4.7 months worth of inventory available. This number doesn’t tell the whole story, however. In some areas, there is less than a month of inventory. There are even some places that only have a few days of inventory for sale!

At the same time, more people want to buy homes today than at any time in the past 5 or 6 years. Interest rates are at near record lows and a new generation of homeowners are trying to buy their first home.

The result is a simple supply and demand issue. There are fewer homes to sell and more people who want to buy them. Make no mistake about it, today’s market is a seller’s market and people who sell their home today are in the strongest bargaining position in years.

You Are in the Driver’s Seat!
If you have been waiting to sell your home, especially if you or someone you know is having difficulty with their mortgage, it is time for you to start exploring your options because your home may be worth significantly more than you realize. The important thing is to know where you stand.

Do you know what your home is worth today? What are homes in the area selling for? These are all questions to which the answers have changed significantly in the last few months and knowing what your specific situation is can help you make more informed choices.

As a real estate agent in today’s market, I make it my business to have the most up-to-date information and can help you understand exactly what your current situation is. If you have been underwater, it is entirely possible you are not anymore. If you have been holding off until the market started to recover, that time is now.

Contact me today for a free market analysis and let me help you determine your best options. Arm yourself with information and make a more informed choice. It might just end up being an incredibly profitable decision.

What's the Latest with West Wood?

We're all curious as to what the market is doing in our neighborhood. The latest information for West Wood is very positive! Two homes have sold in the neighborhood since January 1st of this year. One on Durden Court and the other on Benoit Drive. So welcome your new neighbors if you live near them!

Statistically, the average sales price of these homes was $121,950 with a price per square foot of $70.63. This is an increase over the total sales price per square foot for 2008 of $68.84. So for the first quarter of 2009 things seem to be looking up for us in terms of home values.

Currently there are 9 homes on the market ranging in sales price from $119,900 to $170,000. These homes range from 1480 sq. ft. to 2356 sq. ft. with an average price per square foot of $78.16. If you know of someone looking for a home, please tell them about our neighborhood. If you like living here, don't you think yours friends would also?

I personally feel that we are making some progress in getting our home values up. For a time we seemed plagued with a lot of foreclosed homes in the neighborhood and that trend has seemed to decrease. Most of these homes currently on the market are being sold by the home owner and do not represent bank owned properties. That is GREAT news for us as a community!! In order to keep our property values up, we need to lessen the number of foreclosures in our neighborhood.

Yeah, we all agree to that and I'm sure you're saying what can I do? I pay my bills but it's my neighbors who are causing the problem. Well, there is plenty you can do. If you know of a neighbor, or anyone for that matter, who is having difficult paying their mortgage or maybe has just lost their job, urge them to contact their lender IMMEDIATELY!!! There is a lot that can be done to keep that family in their home.

When the homeowner contacts the lender ask to speak to the home retention or workout department. Be firm and insist that you need help and that you run the risk of foreclosure and you want to work out a deal to keep you in your home. Lenders have the ability to restructure the loan any way they see fit and should be able to work out a plan to keep you in your home. The recent government acts have provided money to help lenders restructure loans to keep homeowners from losing their homes. Call your lender today if you have lost your job or are having difficulty paying your mortgage! Be proactive, don't wait to talk to them when they call you!

We can all do our part to help our neighborhood and our community. If you, or someone you know is in trouble, talk to them and have them take action. If you have any questions or need the number for your lender, please contact me. I'd love to help you keep your home!

Why Pricing Is So Important

Trying to value a home to sell in any market is confusing for most sellers. In this market it is even more crucial. A colleague of mine, Greg Cooper, tells us why pricing is so important.

Indianapolis Once Again Named Most Affordable City in Nation

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer, Last Updated: February 23, 2009: 2:17 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Crashing home prices have led to the most affordable housing market in at least five years, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index released Thursday.

More than 60% of all U.S. homes sold during the last three months of 2008 were affordable - meaning that a family making the national median of $61,500 a year would pay 28% or less of their total income toward housing expenses.

At 62.4% affordable, the figure is up considerably from 56.1% in the previous quarter and 46.6% at the end of 2007, according to the report.

Topping the list of most affordable U.S. metro areas, which ranks areas with more than 500,000 in population, was Indianapolis. This is the city's 14th consecutive quarter in first place; it boasts a full 93% of all homes sold being affordable to median family households.

The least affordable was the New York City metro area, where only 13.9% of homes sold met the criteria.

In the fourth quarter, the national median home price fell to $190,000 from $205,700 in the previous-year period, according to a report issued last week by the National Association of Realtors. That combined with falling mortgage rates has made home buying the most affordable it has been since early 2002.

"Falling home prices and very favorable mortgage rates both contributed to the housing affordability gains we saw in the fourth quarter of 2008," NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a homebuilder from Tulsa, Okla., said in a prepared statement.

That still wasn't enough to get moribund housing markets moving again. Existing homes sold at an annualized rate of 4.74 million in December, according to the National Association of Realtors, down from more than 7 million during the boom.

And a government report revealed that new home sales crashed to an annualized rate of 331,000 in December, the lowest since record keeping began in 1963.

"Worsening economic conditions, historically low consumer confidence and uncertainty about future home prices kept many qualified buyers on the sidelines," Robson said. Still no buying push.

That affordability has improved so much does not necessarily make people go house hunting, according to Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research.

"You could argue that house affordability indexes are improving but that may not be the best way of defining whether it's a good time to buy," he said. "Concerns about the economy and whether they're going to still have a job have kept many homebuyers from stepping up to the plate."

During the boom, when house affordability plunged, buyers came out in droves. They were confident in the economy and afraid that home prices would soar out of reach. Today, just the opposite applies.

"Affordability is going to get even better," said Larson. "Home prices are not done falling. Buyers recognize this. There's no sense of urgency, and rightly so."

Indeed, according to Nicholas Retsinas, director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, affordability, which was a major factor in homebuying during the boom, no longer matters very much. In most parts of the United States, affordability has returned to where it was in 2002 or 2003.
"The new barrier is willingness to buy," he said.

That's why one major goal of President Obama's housing-rescue plan involves slowing foreclosures to stabilize housing markets and foster consumer confidence.

"If that happens, maybe people will start thinking, 'Hey, maybe prices won't go down tomorrow,'" said Retsinas.

Most and least affordable
Affordability in Indianapolis, the 33rd largest metro area in the United States with 1.7 million people, was buoyed by fairly high median income of $65,100 and rock-bottom home prices. The median price for a home sold during the quarter was just $103,000, according to the National Association of Home Builders report.

Those prices, combined with reasonable mortgage interest rates, make home-buying in the area a snap. A buyer of a median-priced home putting 20% down would pay only about $450 a month in mortgage expenses.

But even though house buying costs are reasonable, the city's weakening economy meant it did not escape the foreclosure plague. More than 20,000 homes, representing nearly 3% of the city, received a foreclosure filing of some kind in 2008, the 26th highest rate in the nation.

Other most affordable towns were: Warren, Mich. (89.6%); Youngstown, Ohio (89.4%); and Detroit (89.3%).

In the New York City metro area, home prices took a steep dive during the quarter, to $455,000 from $500,000 three months earlier. But even that was not enough to dislodge the city from its rank as the most unaffordable metro area in the land.

Median income in the area is $63,000, less than in Indianapolis and, with home prices more than four times higher than in the Midwestern metropolis, only 13.9% of the homes sold there were affordable to median income families.

That was still a major improvement from two years ago, when only 5.1% of homes sold during the fourth quarter of 2006 were affordable. And New York households have been barely brushed by foreclosure so far with only 0.71% receiving some kind of foreclosure filing during 2008.

Other least-affordable metro areas included San Francisco at 20.6%, where affordability improved greatly from 5.7% during the second quarter of 2007; suburban Long Island, where 25.5% were affordable; and Los Angeles, where 26.9% were.

Not Your Ordinary Agent!

I'm different. I'll admit it. Yeah, I'm your agent and I do things a little differently. I think I owe it to you. It's all a part of who I am. I'm not going to candy coat things for you, I'm not going to pressure you. I'm not going to tell you what to do. I'm going to give you information and let you make the decision. After all, you are the one who will have to live with it.

Sellers. I'd love to have your listing. If you want to sell. If you don't, then don't call me. If you're out there, looking to make a profit on the home you bought 3 years ago, don't call me. If you feel that your home is worth $10,000 more that the house down the street, just like yours, that was totally updated before putting it on the market because you have that little mudroom on the back that "really could make into a 4th bedroom if they need it and that other house only has three," don't call me. If you'd rather give a 'carpet allowance' then take the time to put it in and repaint, don't call me. I don't need that kind of business.

In today's market, Sellers have to understand the whole picture. They have to understand that the competition out there is tough. They have to understand the importance of pricing correctly, from the start. Selllers have to understand that homes need to be move in ready or discounted in price if not. They need to know what their true competition is. They have to know what buyers want.

Sellers need to understand that percieved objections greatly affect the price a buyer is willing to pay. If buyers think it will be an issue, it will and they won't make an offer. Too many times I've heard, "If just takes a little time to get used to the trains going by." If you really want to sell, you have to consider things like that.

Buyers are looking for a bargain. They are looking for a deal. As a Seller, you have to make them understand that they are getting one. Together, we will do so.