Charlotte Homes - Is It Finally Time To Buy Or Sell In 2009?

Since the start of the national housing correction, many participants in the the housing market find themselves on the sidelines, either by choice or necessity. The Charlotte real estate market is no different.

Buyers watch Charlotte homes go down in price and the inventory they have to bid on go up, but they feel more comfortable waiting to see if prices will go down further... either from fear of making a mistake or the hope that they can "time the market."

Sellers, again, are watching the same price and inventory dynamics and are also waiting to list their Charlotte homes for sale... waiting for average sales prices to rebound or for the inventory in their own neighborhoods to come down. Many sellers are also on the sidelines after trying and failing to attract offers and showing traffic in the last twelve months.

So when will this frustrated group of Charlotte real estate participants get their day in the sun? The good news that I have to report from my business is that it looks like that time is now and we see signs of life heading into the spring selling season of 2009.

The first observation I have is that we are starting to see good homes at attractive prices garner offers and secure contracts. Although the Charlotte real estate market has fared much better than most nationally, it was hard in 2008 for even these better listings to attract showing traffic and offers... OK, really hard. Now we are starting to see these listings move. The key here I think is prices on all homes, even the good ones, have come down while many listings have been pulled or expired, creating a better balance of inventory.

Another key piece of the puzzle are interest rates on Charlotte home loans. Rates on thirty-year fixed loans have dropped substantially. I am seeing rates at 5% and below here of late for qualified buyers. And if you are of the impression that only Donald Trump can get a good loan nowadays, then you are off base. There are loan programs out there for most borrowers with decent credit and a down payment. FHA loan programs for homes at or below the price limit in our area allow the borrow to put as little as 3% down.

A couple of other factors that are probably at play here include the fact that Charlotte is still growing and attracting newcomers to our relatively-better job market, great schools, mild climate and relatively-lower cost of living and taxes. Many have chosen to start over in Charlotte after losing jobs in other areas or after having enough of booms and busts in their former states of residence. These newcomers continue to bolster the Charlotte real estate market into 2009.

These deals I am seeing buyers secure presently will be hard to duplicate when the news gets out and the data improves. That improvement process is in it's early stages presently in my opinion. And there is now hope for sellers who are scared or who were previously unsuccessful... if they have a reason or desire to sell and have reasonable expectations about value.