How many signs do you need?

How many signs do you need? What is your breaking point? When is enough enough? Are you an early adopter & quick to jump on the band wagon? Or are you the type who plays it ever so safe & then regrets missing the boat?

This is a very unique time in the real estate market. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asks me about the market, if houses are selling or if I’m busy each week. I am busy, houses are selling and the market is kinda crazy.

• Interest rates are at all-time lows. I had a client who locked in a 30 year fixed loan at 3.75% last week.
• Warren Buffet has told the people closest to him that buying a home right now “will be the best opportunity in [their] lifetime”.  Warren Buffet’s personal secretary just purchased a second home in Arizona.
• On the Ames MLS there have been 91 price reductions since January 1st this year, 57 properties have sold and 98 are pending sale.
• Days on Market (on Ames MLS) are down from 127 day average one year ago to 113 days now. Since January 1st I’ve sold two properties that were on the market less than a week when they went sale pending.
• The Absorption Rate on the Ames MLS is dropping.Absorption absorption rate refers to the number of months it will take to sell all the homes currently listed for sale.  We have about 7 1/2  months of inventory.

Dec 2011 Absorption on Ames MLS

When the absorption rate is less than five months, it’s considered a seller’s market. When the absorption rate is more than seven months, it’s a buyer’s market. And when the absorption rate is between five and seven months, it’s a balanced, or stable market. If this number keeps dropping…buyers will have missed their market!