RESALE HOME COMPARISON 2002 TO 2007

I went back and tracked the homes sales over the past 6 years. You see our supply issue is dependent on our demand issue. So many people have said, " you can't expect the same sales of the crazy years" and I agree with them I expect our demand to be similar to the average of 2002 and 2003. That would be about 75,000 sales per year. Well below the "heyday" of about 105,000 sales, but above the 54,409 of last year. You see if 20,000 more homes were purchased than our inventory would not be so high. So what we really need is to increase demand. That will occur as prices drop, due to affordability and perceived value; interest rates drop, again affordability and getting the good rate while available; lenders quit changing guidelines, they are making loans more difficult NOW that should have been done at the top of the market not the bottom; confidence returns to the market, many people are renting while waiting for a bottom; and finally, as the liquidity scare diminishes, this will be the outcome of demand returning to the market.

So, for a buyer today. Look for the right home priced right for today's value and re-enter the market. You will become part of the solution and not part of the problem. Try not to time the market. Once it hits bottom, past history shows we can expect a 10% jump the next year. You don't want to settle for the "it will due" home because you are jumping back in the market, when dream homes are available now.