Whenever I meet or talk to someone on the phone from another part of the country, I always ask how the real estate market is doing in their area. Virtually everyone I posed the question to in the last couple of months has given me the same answer.
Homes that are priced under $350,000 are selling like wild fire. The subject came up last evening while I was having dinner with friends. Their daughter and son-in-law are moving from the Dakotas to the West coast. They put their house on the market (priced under $350K) and it sold in just a few weeks. On their first house hunting trip to the area just north of Santa Barbara, their Realtor told them there were 1,500 properties in their price range (under $350K). On their second trip back just a few weeks later, the number available had fallen below 1,000. In a phone conversation just a few days ago, they learned the number is now down to less 600!
This strong demand for homes in this price range appears to be happening everywhere. When most folks think of Naples, FL, they associate the area with multi-million dollar properties, but what is selling in Naples, Miami and most other parts of Florida are home and condos priced under $350,000. The same is true on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton.
First time home buyers are obviously taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit for homes purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. Unemployment is approaching 10%, but 90% of the population is gainfully employed and many are taking advantage of prices that have fallen back to 20001 and 2002 levels. Unquestionably, everyone has been affected by the economic slowdown, but many of the younger folks that are buying real estate have not taken the big “hit” on their 401Ks or pensions. Most of their savings was focused on short-term rather than retirement goals. They are on the right side of short-sales and foreclosures and for them it is an opportunity of a lifetime!
