Interest rates to drop below 5%??

It may happen soon! The Treasury Dept. has been asked to consider a plan that would drive interest rates on 30 year fixed loans down to 4.5%! Details could be released as early as next week! Great news for you buyers that have been on the fence! If you've got job security, good credit and at least 3% down, there really is no better time to buy a home! Rates are currently hovering around between 5.5% & 5.75%. This interest rate drop would also affect refinancing. I'll post more details if/when they become available!

Average Sales Price Stats for 10/08

Here are some of the lastest stats from the Columbus Board of Realtors.

Areas showing an INCREASE in sales price:

The downtown area of Columbus; $261,987 last year to $312,940, almost a 20% increase!

The area loosely located north of Bethel Rd., west of 315, east of Riverside & south of Powell; over 5%, from $184,358 to $194,252.

The area located south of Bethel Rd. to include parts of Grandview & the Lane Ave. area east of 315; $149,169 to $158,525, over 6% increase.

Canal Winchester; a slight increase of 1.73%, up to $175,610.

Dublin; up 3.5% from $319,035 to $330,220.

Hilliard; an increase (but still not a decrease) of less than 1%, at $204,031.

Plain City; up almost 10% to $183,761.

Areas showing a DECREASE:

Columbus, just north of 670, including the Short North, Victorian Village & Italian Village; down 10.5%, to $137,129.

Columbus, east of downtown, to include Olde Towne East; down over 20% to $68,022.

Columbus, south of downtown including German Village; down 31% to $127,690.

East Columbus, south of I-70, and east of Brice Rd.; down 11.37% to $109,600.

West Columbus, east of 270; down almost 25% to $50,144.

Northwest Delaware County; down 14% to $181,243.

Northeast Delaware County; down over 12% to $186,631.

Lancaster; down slightly more than 10% to $101,673.

Pickerington; down 9% to $190,084.

Grandview Heights; down almost 14% to $232,180.

Newark & Granville; down 16.5% to $261,638.

Lockbourne; down almost 18% to $64,693.

Upper Arlington; down almost 7% to $312,570.

Whitehall; down over 40% to $50,230.

Worthington; down 10% to $228,167.

For areas not listed, e-mail me for more details! realtor4columbus@yahoo.com

Before & After

I sold this home to friends of mine a few years ago, and they lost some siding in the windstorms we had this past summer. They did an amazing transformation! Here are the before & after pics! Great job on boosting your curb appeal (one of things potential buyers will be looking for most)!

Don't have 3% cash to put down?

You may still be able to purchase a home; a brand NEW home that is! Some builders in our area are once again offering work equity programs. If you can paint and pick up a hammer (contact me for specifics), then this program will cover your 3% downpayment!

For what it's worth....

After watching the happenings in the local real estate market for quite some time now, I have to question whether or not the media is really painting an accuate picture of the local housing market . You may agree with me, disagree with me, or agree to disagree with me, but here are my thoughts and opinions on the current LOCAL real estate market that we find ourselves in.

1. Condos have been hit especially hard. They've become extremely difficult to move in this market (partly because condos are competing with single family REO homes in the same price range).

2. Newer neighborhoods (including upscale neighborhoods, prices from $325K and up), built after 2002 or so, have also been hit especially hard.

3. Most of the areas that I work in (Powell, Dublin, Worthington, NW Cols) are still selling ok, with home values only down slightly from this same time last year, usually only 1 - 2%.

4. If your home looks the best it possibly can, and is reasonably priced (the sellers aren't trying to make profits that they could have 2 years ago), your home will sell. Homes in my neighborhood are still selling for close to asking price, in 90 days, give or take!

Not all together bad news! Happy house selling!

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac trying to curb foreclosures

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27660450

Essentially, these two giants are going to try to speed up the loan modification process, in hopes that this will cut back on the number of loans that actually go into foreclosure. Citigroup, Bank of America & J.P. Morgan Chase have recently announced similar programs. Too little too late? Who knows....

Another informative website I just came across!

I wanted to share this with all of you, in hopes that the resources available here might help you or someone you know!

http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/EconomicNews/index.htm?er=true

New Listing... on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ieHajU0q_Q

I'm so proud of myself for figuring out how to do this all on my own! :)

Housing Market Stats

Home sales are strong, according to the Columbus Board of Realtors. Sales for September were only down 1.5% from September '07, and the average sales price is only down 1.7% from last September to just over $160K. To add to the already stabilizing market, there were fewer homes added to the market, making September the month with the lowest inventory in six months! The average number of days on market is going down to, to just around 100 days. These are all great signs that the Columbus market is on the upswing!

Good news on getting financed!

Well, it seems that things might not be as grim after all for those of you trying to obtain financing! If you have a credit score in the upper 600's, and a minimum of 3% (going up to 3.5% in January) down, you should still be able to obtain a mortgage! Contact me if you need contact names & numbers of lenders that may be able to help!