The long term value of housing
I noticed an interesting point made by Nationally syndicated columnist Lew Sichelman regarding the long term value of housing.
"Hang in there. Real estate is just the opposite of the law of gravity: What goes down almost always comes back up. It may take a while longer this time around, but it's a pretty safe bet that sooner or later, values will start rising again. Don't pay too much attention to what my colleagues and I write concerning housing prices. Only those people who are in financial difficulty and/or must sell their houses now while prices are lower will be hurt during the current downturn. Everyone else should be fine as long as they can wait out the decline."
One line in particular jumps out regarding the media coverage of the housing bubble and housing price declines. Advice to not pay too much attention to what the media, including the author, say about housing prices. OK. So why is it being written (or discussed on television) if we aren't supposed to pay attention?
As to Charleston real estate, the Charleston market trends during the current housing slowdown continue to show prices holding very steady to up slightly even though inventory remains very high. Buyers are definitely looking for deals (probably due to the extensive media coverage about housing prices).
Offers are coming in much lower than list price, approximately 4% to 5% less on average. Sellers who want to sell or have to sell are accepting or at least countering. A persistently stubborn seller with an inflated value in mind for their property may act insulted and reject the offer altogether but at the very least, it's a wake up call regarding how others are valuing their property.
There is more and more good news on the employment front for the Charleston area which will continue to postively impact housing demand and the recent spring snows, rains, flooding and unusual cold temperatures in the Northeast bodes well for many more Northerners finally packing up and moving south and making Charleston, among other desirable southern locales, their new home.
So if you are buying, it's a good time for you buy low and get good value; if you are selling, determine whether you really want to or really have to or are just "testing the waters". If you want to or have to, price your home to the market in order to sell it and right now, the market is a little less than you might have hoped it would be. It is not, however, a great time to be testing the waters. Wait for the long term value of housing to catch up. As Lew says, hang in there.