More Great news!

Just thought i would share this with everyone.

Happy Investing!

Monday March 23, 10:30 am ET
By Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer

Existing home sales rise 5.1 percent in February; prices plunge 15.5 percent

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of existing homes rose from January to February in an unexpected boost for the slumping U.S housing market as buyers took advantage of deep discounts on foreclosures.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of existing homes grew 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.72 million last month, from 4.49 million units in January. It was the largest sales jump since July 2003.

Sales had been expected to fall to an annual pace of 4.45 million units, according to Thomson Reuters.

The median sales price plunged to $165,400, down 15.5 percent from $195,800 a year earlier. That was the second-largest drop on record.

February's median sales price was up slightly from January, which recorded the lowest median price since September 2002. Prices are down about 28 percent from their peak in July 2006.

In contrast with the housing boom, when buyers took out ever-riskier loans and maxed out their home equity lines, "homebuyers are not over stretching" said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist. "They want to stay within their budget."

By summertime, sales are expected to get a boost from a $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers included in the economic stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama last month.

The number of unsold homes on the market last month rose 5.2 percent to 3.8 million, a typical increase for the winter months. At February's sales pace, it would take 9.7 months to rid the market of all of those properties, unchanged from a month earlier.

The bursting of the U.S. housing bubble has caused foreclosures to swamp the market -- especially in particularly distressed states like California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

About 45 percent of sales nationwide are foreclosures or other distressed property sales, according to the Realtors group. Those properties typically sell for about 20 percent less than non-distressed homes.

That's great news for buyers, who are paying the most attractive prices in years. Plus, interest rates have sunk to historic lows.

The Federal Reserve last week moved to reduce already low rates by printing $1.2 trillion and pumping it into the economy through the purchases of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury debt.

The central bank also will double its purchases of debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $200 billion.

Great news for the Phoenix market

Some great news is taking place in our market. The availability of Single Family Detached homes dropped below 40,000 this week to 39,828. This fact, combined with previous month’s closings at 5907, left the market supply at 6 3/4 months.
Active listings for single family homes have not been below 40,000 since March of 2007. May of 2007 was the last time we had over 5,900 closings.
Pending sale are over 10,000. That is the highest since June 2005 (The end of the boom years)
If you read newspapers to keep up with current real estate market conditions, makes you wonder where these facts have been hiding?
Sales are still slow in higher end properties, due to the nearly non-existence of realistic financing above conforming amounts of $417,000.
Now is a great time to buy. If you read my last post here about balancing loan rates with purchase price you will realize now may just be time to make your move.
Happy Investing
Chris

Is it time to buy?????

Is it time to buy?????

It may be time to take a good hard look at the Real estate market and decide on our own.
With all the negativity surrounding the market lets take a look at what really matters. Most investors are looking at property values as the only criteria as when to buy and what to buy. This is a major factor in deciding when to enter the market but a closer look shows that it should not be the only criteria. Trying to guess the bottom of real estate values could leave you with out the best deal. With mortgage rate at a 35 year low this can work to our advantage. Most experts think that we have seen worst in real estate values. What should be expected is some ticks down but that the sharp declines and drastic hits for the most part are behind us.

Now lets take a look at how values and rate affect us.

When thinking about building a rental portfolio the number 1 thing to keep in mind is "CASH FLOW" Popular opinion is the cheaper the better. consider this, not the cheaper the property rather the cheaper the payment. This is where the terms of the loan come into play. in many situations the terms are going to create a better deal. Fallow the example below;

A rental house that cost $100,000

$100,000 @ 5% = $537.
a 5% decrease in property values with a 1 percent increase in interest rates proves to be a bad deal.

$95,000 @ 6% = $570.

6% or $33 difference in payments.

There would have to be a decrease in property value of greater than 10.5% for the payments to be the same.

So the questions remains:
Is it time to buy?
Are we at the true bottom (rates & values)?
If i wait for property values drop will i miss the bottom of the interest rates?

With values at an over corrected state, rates at a 35 year low and inventory starting to decline now may be the best time to buy.
Finding a property at a discounted rate will absorb ticks in the value.


tell me what you think....................................