Has the housing market turned in Eastman? Are there buyers out there? Are they looking or actually buying?
These are two of the most popular questions I am asked on a daily basis. Here are some numbers that prove Eastman home sales have turned the corner.
From January 1st, 2009 through May 1st, 2009 there were 5 homes that sold in Eastman. From January 1st, 2010 through May 1st, 2010 there have been 17. That’s correct a more than 300% increase in the year over year time period. Another thing that makes this recovery look good is the amount of homes contingent or pending. Contingent is when there is a Purchase and Sales agreement on a home and the buyer and seller have agreed on a price but there still contingencies that need to be completed. IE; Financing, home and septic inspections etc. Pending is when an agreement has passes through the contingency stage and the sale is eminent. Pending home sales stand at 6 and contingent homes total 9.
The likely hood of all these homes making it through to closing is not 100% but it is very possible that Eastman home sales will reach the low thirty’s in the first sixth months of the year. This will equal or surpass the total number of homes sold in all of last year! For 2009 there were 32 homes sold in Eastman.
Now the question is will the market continue to be strong? The predictions for higher interest rates hasn’t happened yet. So that is a very positive sign. The home buyer tax credits have expired so only time will tell if there is a slow down in the market. My guess is the tax credit will be a non issue here in Eastman. My reasoning is that Eastman is really not an area that draws first time home buyers. It does happen, several of my sales over the last few years have been to first time buyers. I would put Eastman first time home buyer sales at less than 5% of all homes sold.
I believe that we might see a modest slowdown in sales based on economic activity. Gas is almost $3.00 a gallon. Dartmouth is still reducing it’s work force. How bad is the huge oil spill in the Gulf going to affect the economy? I would think gas and oil prices will rise even more.
I think we get to at least 50 homes sold by years end in the Eastman Community and that’s not a bad year!