While perusing the Internet and scanning my Google News Alerts for the latest regional real estate news, I noticed a trend in the message last week: Current prices significantly lower than the recent market highs + historically low interest rates + tax credits for real estate purchases = a stronger real estate market in 2010.
For example, see this story in last week’s Jackson Hole News&Guide, today’s story in the Casper Star-Tribune, and this story on Realtor.com (grain of salt not included – this is a real estate advocacy site).
Key quotes include:
- From JH News&Guide: “There is significant money on the sidelines waiting for quality buys, and we have seen some great opportunities present themselves over the course of the year and there will continue to be opportunities for buyers in all price points,” Andrews said. (That’s Clayton Andrews, managing broker for Sotheby’s in Jackson Hole).
- From the Casper Star-Tribune (Associated Press): Many indicated “credit still remains tight but less so than in recent months,” said William Strauss, a senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
- From Realtor.com: “The tax credit will absolutely have an effect,” says Pete Flint, CEO of residential real estate search engine Trulia.com. “It is going to shift demand from the later part of the year to the first part. January and February will be very strong. The next three months, there will be a surge in demand.”
While I too believe the next two quarters will present significant opportunity for those wishing to buy and sell real estate in Jackson Hole, I look at the bulk of these articles much like the news you get on cable television: superficial at best and slave to a pre-determined narrative at worst. If you took the time to read these stories you noticed plenty of caveats beyond the veneer of optimism.
In reality, current trends, indicators and statistics are only background noise when it comes to actual transactions as each buyer, seller and property bring unique needs, desires and circumstances to every conversation. What is true for one neighborhood may not apply across the street. Different banks may treat the same borrower differently. And so on.
The best way to gather the information you will need when buying or selling real estate is to contact a full-time Realtor with an ear to the ground in the area you are interested in.
