Timing is Everything

We all know 2009 wasn’t exactly the best year on the books for real estate, so how is this year comparing to last? Let’s start with the good news – the market is picking up. And now the bad news – sales in July 2010 were down 26.6% from July 2009. To explain, the data from July is really from activity that was happening in May and June. With the government tax credit this past spring, there were a lot of buyers enticed to make the April 30 deadline, thus causing a bit of a slowdown in the months following.
What I noticed when the market was hot this spring was that a lot of people listed their homes for sale after realizing this—on the tail end of this peak—but it was too late; the frenzy had begun to subside. Now we’re seeing people who had listed their home in late April take it off the market now after missing those potential buyers. Timing is everything!
Back to the good news—activity has definitely increased the past few weeks. People are getting out of their vacation mindset and back into reality, which for some people consists of moving. Showings are on the rise, and time will tell about prices.