Happy New Year! Man, 2008 was a “different” one for sure! Election year, bad economic news, banking institutions going under, the big bail out, the auto industry suffering mass decline in sales, etc… 2008, to many people that I’ve talked with, is regarded as a “good riddance” year. Not so much that they bad things really happened to them. It’s more like the mood for them was just not great for that year. I guess they seemed a little complacent from day to day? The mood wasn’t good??? I know that I’ve had better “mood” years myself.
The Waco real estate market was down a little in 2008 compared to 2007, but not too much really when you compare it to the rest of the country. Residential home sales were down 3.5% over all. That’s actually a difference of about 84 homes. Could be better, but it seems the Waco area has been able to hold its own in some tough times.
The average price per house sold in 2007 was $133,955. For 2008, that figures is$127,320. That represents a 4.9% drop in value. Why? In 2007 there were 2,572 new residential home listings that hit the market. For 2008, that number increases to 3,376! That’s an increase of over 31%. The fact that 31% MORE homes were on the market than in 2007 coupled with a decrease in sales… I’m kind of surprised we didn’t have a little more of a drop in price than 4.9%!
So what does the new year hold? Good question. I’m not psychic, but I do know that recently with the new lower interest rates, it seems more buyers have come forward. I don’t know how long it will last, but it’s possible 2009 could be a better year than 2008 for Waco real estate in general.
There’s still growth in the area. New people moving to town and new businesses opening up. If we can keep growing Waco, I think the whole area will do okay.
There are some deals to be had, if you look hard enough. I can tell you, that right after Christmas, at least for me, I’ve received a lot more buyer interest than I did the whole month November. I’ve talked to a couple of other Realtors and they said they’ve experienced the same of sort of “surge” (so to speak).
So at least for now, it looks like January or February may shape up to be pretty decent months. That’s of course, dependent on the number of new listings as well. Right now we have about a 7.2 month supply of homes on the market, which may sound like a lot, but actually it’s not bad. The rule of thumb that I’ve always been told: “If there’s less than 5 months of inventory on the market, then it’s a seller’s market. If there’s a 5-7 month supply of inventory, then it’s pretty balanced. If there’s more than 7 months, then it’s a buyer’s market”. So a 7.2 month supply is pretty close to balance.
If there’s a surge of sellers wanting to put their house up for sale, then that could tip the scale in the buyers favor rather quickly.
Don’t forget that the United States government has instituted a “tax credit” plan for first time homebuyers and those folks who haven’t owned a home in the last 3 years. If you take advantage of the incentives in place, you could receive an up to an extra $7,500 on your I.R.S. refund check! Here’s the FAQ: Home Buyer Tax Credit
By the way, the statistics I use are mainly single family residences. Those numbers do not include ranches, land, farm and ranch, commerical, and manufactured housing.
