Editorial
Front Page - Monday, December 07, 2009
House to House
Slow season for real estate can benefit buyers
Ethan C. Nobles
By Ethan C. Nobles
Arkansas Realtors® Association Ethan@ArkansasRealtors.com
Just ask any Realtor in Arkansas – business starts to get slow after Thanksgiving and stays that way until the first of January as people are busy with Christmas and tend to put off buying or selling homes until after the first of the year.
Believe it or not, that can be good news for buyers and that’s doubly true this year.
Generally, this is a great time to purchase a home because fewer potential buyers on the market results in less competition for homes – a good offer on a house is more likely to stick because there are fewer people out there to start bidding wars. That’s particularly true this year as there are a lot of homes for sale.
While inventory levels have been dropping as of late, there are plenty of homes to choose from right now. In central Arkansas, the Fort Smith area, the Jonesboro area and northwest Arkansas, there were 11,868 homes for sale on Nov. 30 – down from 12,198 houses for sale three months earlier.
The average list price on those houses dropped to $221,919 on Nov. 30 from $230,026 three months earlier. In other words, there are a lot of homes on the market and the price of the average home has dropped $9,000 over the past three months.
Then there are interest rates to consider. According to Zillow.com, the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage on Nov. 30 was 4.52 percent – down from around 4.8 percent at the first of the month.
On top of a large selection, declining average prices and low interest rates, there’s a tax credit out there to consider. The first-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000 was set to expire at the end of November but was extended to the end of April.
Qualified first-time buyers can claim a tax credit up to $8,000 while people who already own a home can claim up to $6,500 under the new credit. That existing homeowner credit is brand new and Realtors in Arkansas have mentioned that potential buyers are showing a lot of interest in it.
They’ve also mentioned that a lot of existing homeowner credit has also resulted in a lot of questions. The credit was passed at the first of November and – due to the newness of the tax break – has caused some confusion as to who is eligible for it and how much can be claimed.
Fortunately for potential shoppers, eager Realtors have kept up with the new credit very well and stand ready to answer questions that first-time buyers and existing homeowners have.
While the popular wisdom is that real estate markets slow down during the Christmas season, wary shoppers may find it to their advantage to shop for homes now. Attractive prices, low interest rates, a tax credit and less competition may mean that dream home is more affordable and easier to buy than it would be in January.
House to House is distributed weekly by the Arkansas Realtors Association.
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