Is the real estate market coming back anytime soon? An area economist spoke at our office this week and explained the 3 possible scenarios. The housing market will either take shape of a V, a W or a U. Let's all hope that it is a V but for Charlotte they are predicting that we will experience a U. We will get to a bottom and we will ride along the bottom for many months before the housing market begins to turn and before we will begin to see an increase in housing values.
All signs indicate that we have reached a bottom in houses priced below $250,000. The higher end houses are approaching a bottom, but expect to continue seeing these list prices drop as there are hardly any buyers in today's market looking at higher-end homes. Don't expect houses over $1 million to begin moving before spring.
Houses and townhouses that are in good shape and priced below $250,000 are moving very fast and this is what area agents are selling. Our office had 22 sales in the first five days of September and 17 of these sales were under $200,000. This is a real indication of who is buying property in today's market. IT IS THE FIRST TIME HOME BUYER.
We are seeing a lot of activity with first time home buyers taking advantage of the tax credit that everyone knows about. Renters with good credit and steady jobs are taking advantage of this market and are becoming home owners.
We will not see significant signs that the higher-end real estate market is changing until early summer. There are still many people unemployed, people with bad credit and so many more foreclosures still to occur before Charlotte's market will be able to completely recover at all price ranges.
