Signs of Change: Existing Home Sales Rise 3.6% in June

RISMEDIA, July 24, 2009-Existing-home sales rose for the third consecutive month with inventory easing and home prices declining less sharply in June, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-increased 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in June from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May, but are 0.2% lower than the 4.90 million-unit level in June 2008.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, is hopeful about the gain. “The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” he said. “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions. Despite the rise in closed transactions, many Realtors® are reporting lost sales as a result of new appraisal standards that went into effect May 1 of this year.”

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2009-07-23/signs-of-change-existing-home-sales-rise-36-in-june/#ixzz0MD5pTTMN

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The Contract Offer: What Price to Start With

When a decision is made to make an offer to purchase a home, be sure to go back and take a second look. It is so much easier changing your mind about a home before a contract offer is made than after a contract offer is accepted and signed by the seller. This second appointment would be a perfect time to bring along others who may have an impact on a buying decision, such as parents, friend, contractor, etc.

Go through the home a second time and look beyond the owner’s décor, whether it was the home just previewed, the first one seen earlier in the day or the one previewed last week. Why? There are many reasons, but most importantly is seeing if the second look creates the same good feeling as the first, and then taking a closer look to see if there are aspects of the home missed during the first preview which may alter the decision to submit a contract offer.

So what is the right price to start with?

That depends on a number of things, such as the risk of losing the home to another buyer, how close to market value the seller’s asking price is and what is the maximum price willing to be paid for the home.

Even though the current market is considered a buyer’s market, there are many properties on the market for sale where the listing price is at, or very near market value, and where price negotiation will not be as great as other properties on the market that are priced well above market value.

In fact, don’t be surprised to find that there are multiple offers being submitted and negotiated. [read the complete article here...]