As recently reported in the New Hampshire Union Leader (Monday, July 19, 2010) by Doug Ireland with The Eagle-Tribune, a recent state report shows rental costs rising, despite the overall economic climate. The report was issued by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority and concluded, that despite the fact that home prices are still adjusting downward, rents are still increasing.
Over the past year the median price for a typical 2-bedroom apartment, which includes utilities, rose about 2% to $1,056 ($1,205 in Rockingham County). This trend of rising rent prices is making it hard for some residents to pay their rent. The median income in Rockingham County is already lower than what is estimated to be needed to keep up with the rent payments. It is the same case statewide. There are approximately 31,315 rental units in the state.
At the same time, there are more and more rental units coming on the market as sellers, particularly of upper end properties over $350,000, give up trying to sell and decide to rent instead. There are also more potential renters moving into the market from foreclosure loss of home as well.
For those who can get qualified to buy a home, this is still the best time in years to do so, especially considering the current rates and inventory.
One of the things which has the most impact on our market is what is going on in states from which many of our buyers come. That’s why it was exciting to see a couple of articles in RISMedia at the end of June which was reporting increased sales of single-family homes in Connecticut and Massachusetts. These sales were up about 39% in Connecticut and about 37% in Massachusetts in May 2010. As reported in one of the articles, this was “…the sharpest increase in sales year-over-year for the month of May in more than two decades…” from the latest report by The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record. Some of this increase was certainly attributable to the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, but the Warren Report also expressed the opinion that pent-up demand from buyers who had been delaying buying a home because of concerns about the economy or job security had also added to the surge. A good number of the buyers in our area-for retirement, vacation, or even relocation-do come from Connecticut and Massachusetts. This news would indicate that these buyers may be feeling more confident about pursuing purchases in New Hampshire and that will be good news for sellers. Source of Information: a Regional Spotlight article posted in RISMEDIA, June 30, 2010 and June 25, 2010
Contrary to popular belief, the following factors have no effect on the current value of your property: what you paid for your house; what cash proceeds you want (or need) from the sale; what your friends and neighbors say your property is worth.
Your property’s value is determined by several separate factors, including the following, over which you have no control: the physical qualities of your property (location, age, size of house and lot, floor plan and style); market conditions (interest rates and availability of financing, buyer demand, prices of recently sold properties, the state of the economy and seasonal demand); and the competition (the number of similar properties for sale, their prices, financing terms, location and physical condition).
Your house has many values—
One to the tax assessor, others to your lender and insurance company, and yet another value to you, the owner. Prospective buyers will also value it differently. It is what a buyer will pay, based on current conditions, which ultimately determines “market value”.
A professional Competitive Market Analysis is the best tool to determine the current market value of your property. It will focus on similar houses that have recently sold and those now on the market, the competition. It will also consider those which did not sell and came off the market.
Buyers do comparison shopping. The best price obtainable for your house will be determined by the market. Houses that do not meet the current competition in price and terms simply do not sell. In fact, they may even help sell the competition!
The price at which your house is marketed must attract enough attention among buyers and buyers’ brokers to generate showings and offers.
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603-526-4116
In the New London/Lake Sunapee area real estate market, or any market for that matter, overpricing a home in a buyer’s market is definitely not a good strategy for selling. Today’s buyers are very cautious about overpaying, are more discerning and are less likely to accept defects found on inspections. With the abundance of properties on the market and price reductions seen on a daily basis, buyers are taking longer to buy and are pickier about what they buy. Sellers should not aggressively price their house in anticipation of buyers making offers. Most buyers won’t waste their time offering on a listing over-priced for the market – especially when there are other choices. In fact, other agents will use your over-priced listing to help them sell the well-priced listings. In this changing market, sellers are no longer in the driver’s seat. Comparable sales from even a few months ago may not be applicable for today’s market. For best results, rely on your realtor for a realistic price assessment. [caption id="attachment_52" align="aligncenter" width="117" caption="Donna Forest, ABR"]
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