Before I even type of the first word of this post, I'm girding to be drawn and quartered by the doomsayers who seem to flock here looking to squelch even the slightest hint of optimism. Sort of like the Dementors in the Harry Potter books, the prison guards of Azkaban who suck the happiness out of everyone.
I'm sensing a bit of a pick-up. In the past week or so, since Christmas, I've gotten a handful of calls and emails from folks I worked with last summer saying they'd like to start looking again. I've also gotten a number of calls or emails from new potential buyers, asking about properties and areas. I had two appointments between Christmas and New Year, and already have three booked for January. Now, if you're a busy urban Realtor, you may think that number of appointments is really slow, but for here it's pretty good. And this is all before the NY Times Escapes article mention today.
Among the folks I'm talking to, there seem to be a few factors coming together to shift them back into serious looking mode. Lower mortgage rates certainly seem to be having a motivating effect. And there's a feeling that, with a price drop from our peak of 25% to 30%, we may not be quite at the bottom but we've already taken most of the fall.
In October and November, the widespread perception seemed to be that you'd be an idiot to even consider buying a house. Over the past few weeks I think there's been a subtle, but noticeable, attitude shift — that if one is in a position to buy, with either cash or good credit, you're in a position of strength and could cut a shrewd deal. At dinners and parties over the holidays, real estate again was a hot topic, with a number of folks particularly asking about good values.
The question always comes up "Is it a good time to buy?" That's tough to answer, because it depends on the individual's objectives. My response is that's it's never a good time to buy an overpriced house, but it probably a good time to cut a deal on a well priced one.
