Another indicator of the housing industry’s health, new home starts, are down about 20 percent for the Temple- Belton-Morgan’s Point area
But things are looking up, if you consider the following:
n 2007 September homes sales - 150
n 2008 September home sales - 163
According to Temple-Belton Board of Realtors president Terri Covington, this slight upward tick could continue if the pending 191 residential sales worth almost $26 million pans out.
Ms. Covington said this was a good time to buy for several reasons: Down payments may increase come January; real estate investment may look safer than speculating in the stock market; and lenders are offering attractive interest rates.
Matt Wood, branch manager with 1st Alliance Mortgage in Belton, said folks with good credit and a healthy down payment could still get an attractive interest rate, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.5 percent. And loans on higher end homes could get a lower rate than that.
But before anyone receives the keys to a new home, they have to close the deal at a title company. Linda Chaison, president of CentraLand Title with offices in Temple and Salado, said their business was down about 10 to 15 percent this year. She agrees with the economists who say hang on, better days are ahead.
“I always tell people, in the mid ’80s with 15-17 percent interest it was a pretty bad scenario. It comes in cycles. We have downturns. It comes back up,” Ms. Chaison said.
Like other real estate professionals, Ms. Chaison said things should pick up about 100 days after the new president is inaugurated in January.
Rodney Dunn, president of the Rodney Dunn Company, said although total sales have dropped two straight years, it is significant the average sales price held steady.
“In my opinion, these numbers indicate that buying real estate in our local marketplace has remained a viable investment. Prices, although not currently on the rise, have remained solid,” Dunn said.
Looking down the road, Dunn sees many qualified buyers who are currently “on hold” stepping up when “we have a month or two of stability in the economy.”
On the national scene, things are also looking brighter.
According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales climbed 5.5 percent. This includes single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops.
“The sales turnaround which began in California several months ago is broadening now to Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Rhode Island,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said. “The South was hampered by much lower home sales in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.”
Yun also said 80 percent of current buyers are purchasing homes for their primary residence, up slightly from previous years.
