Homeowners Coming to Terms with Actual Home Prices
The real estate smart search engine Trulia just recently released its March 2010 Reduction Report revealing that homeowners were finally coming in line with agents about what their homes are really worth. March marked a record low in residential property price reductions due to a more realistic outlook of the real estate market by the American public as a whole.
The news comes as President Obama’s $8,000 credit for first-time home-buyers and $6,500 tax credit for repeat home-buyers comes to an end in the near future. Contracts must be signed by April 30, and loans must be closed by June 30 in order to qualify for the credit. The incentive is credited with many American’s purchasing homes for the first time last year.
Trulia’s Reduction Report cites increasingly positive news that the real estate market is indeed on its way to recovery. Home price reductions in February managed to drop to its lowest levels in 10 months. Moreover, prices in 19 percent of homes on the market as of March 1 were reduced.
Although home sales have dropped, many agents blame external factors such as bad winter weather, and pricing disputes between agent and seller. In fact, many states are still facing disagreement between buyer and seller.
The overall consensus, however, is that as homeowners face the reality of fair home prices, the market will stabilize. If a house is priced for this market – then that means less time on the market and more turnaround. Stagnant houses are simply bad news for the economy.