Fritz Pfister

For regular visitors of this site, please pardon the forty eight hour delay in the posting of updated information.

Went back to my childhood home and spent the weekend celebrating the 40th anniversary of my high school graduation. The class of 1969. It was a happy and sad occasion. Happy to visit the old home town, and many of my childhood friends. Sad to learn that from our class of about 200, there are now 33 class members that have passed. Too many, too young.

Back to Springfield Illinois and the real estate market.

To say the trends of this summer are good, would be an understatement!

Consider the following year to date comparison to 2008;

Number of homes listed for sale; down by 360 or by 18% to 1623 from 1983. Good news for everyone. Home sellers have less competition, while home buyers have an adequate selection of homes.

Number of closed home sales; down by 90 or by a mere 4% to 2170 from 2260. OK, last year was not good with home sales declining 13.5%, however at the current pace of sales 2009 has a chance to finish even or up should the current trends continue through the end of year.

Number of sales pending. Up a whopping 98 or by 25% to 483 from 385. It will be important to monitor how many of these sale contracts actually close. In a normal year 80% of sales pending close. With the changes in financing regulations, and appraisal requirements; the failure rate may increase to 25%. Regardless, great news on the number of homes under contract.

In summary the inventory is falling, the number of sales is rising, and home prices are stable (median is up, average is down). How many markets in the U.S. can say that? Not many.

Just a reminder; the driving forces behind the recent sales activity are the historically low interest rates, and the first time home buyer tax credit. Interest rates will go up when the economy begins to recover and employers start hiring. The tax exemption expires on November 30. What happens then? Then it will be all about jobs and consumer confidence.

My advice? Take advantage of the good conditions that are available today! Just as with the passing of 33 of my classmates, you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Take action while conditions are good. Act while you can.

Opinions are soley those of Fritz Pfister and not RE/MAX Professionals of Springfield, or RE/MAX International.