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by Francine Lichtman, Real Estate Sales Associate
The news remains positive. New Jersey has gone from having 17 months of existing inventory at the beginning of this year to about nine months now. We have seen six straight months of increased sales. Locally, our areas currently have about five to six months of inventory overall, but in the most popular price points, there are three to four months available. I have not seen those low levels in a couple of years. As everyone knows, when the inventory goes down, that is when the prices will begin to rise. We are very close to seeing the very beginnings of this movement.
PROPERTY TAXES
I currently have many clients who are challenging their taxes successfully. If you would like to talk about this, please do not hesitate to contact me via email.
YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
I am always grateful for your referrals. Many of you continue to send clients to me and I thank you. If you have anyone in your sphere who has been thinking about buying or selling, please think of me. I would be happy to speak to them about the market and their options.
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Assignment
If you know anyone who has been thinking of buying a home instead of remaining in the rental market, please send them my way. I have access to some of the best mortgage people around. Many first time buyers are out there taking advantage of the First Time
FHA loans require only a 3.5% down payment. This credit cannot be used for the minimum down payment but can be used as an additional down payment or for closing costs.
You must purchase your first home by November 30, 2009 to qualify.
If you or someone you know is thinking of buying a home, contact me at info@NJisHome.com |
Posts Tagged ‘Fran Lichtman’
The State of the Market and What Really Matters
Monday, August 17th, 2009by Francine Lichtman, Real Estate Sales Associate
Hi and hope everyone is having a great summer. Wow, it is surely flying by in true tradition!
The market continues to show signs of recovery. The National Association of Home Builders has formally asked Congress to extend and enhance the first-time home buyer�s credit, which is due to expire on December 31, 2009. Here I go again speaking about this credit, but it is critical that these first time buyers gain entry into the market. I cannot stress enough the importance of this for the housing recovery.
The NAHB is specifically asking that the home buyer tax credit be extended for a year and that it be opened up to include all home buyers. This means that the income limit for eligibility, which is currently $150K per household, would be wiped away, allowing everyone to participate. If we are lucky, this could end up somewhere in between.
If Congress acts to extend the tax program, it would spur 383,000 additional home sales and create over 350,000 jobs.
The other issue that has been plaguing the housing market is a faulty appraisal system. The use of short sales and foreclosed properties as comps for determining home values has and continues to hurt home values and has even killed some home sales. When appraisals come in below the contracted sales price, there are often buyers who either pull out of the deal or ask that the seller reduce the price that they previously agreed upon. Most banks require that the comps used are from sales that are within the past 2-3 months, which is also key to the creation of stress in this area. This is a very short period of time. Previously the banks were allowing appraisers to go back 6 months to comp properties.
Hopefully we will have some movement on these issues over the next couple of months.