Boon or Bust in the Real Estate Market
Boy are we lucky. In July of last year, we were given 6 weeks to move to South Carolina, or be unemployed. We chose to move. Which meant selling our townhouse.
We sold our 2 bedroom townhouse for more than 2 1/2 times what I paid for it in 2000. I hadn't done much in the way of upgrades. Yes, new appliances (Standard ones! I don't buy the mid-life crisis appliances!), and I had refinished all the cabinets in the house. But that's it. We hit on the peak of the housing boon.
Since we moved, two other homes in the community have gone on the market. The first took 6 months to sell. And it sold for $85,000 less than we got. The second is still on the market, and has been for several months. They are holding out for more it seems. But they have still reduced the price to $40,000 less than we got.
Funny, it used to be that within one week of putting a house on the market in the DC area, you'd have multiple contracts. Most houses were closing at prices higher than the list price.
Not any more. The real estate market in the DC area has gone bust. According to The Washington Post, existing home sales have dropped 11.2% in the past year. Ouch.
I think of all the people who bought their homes at the peak, lured by ridiculously low interest rates, with little downpayment. They probably can't afford to move now, even if they wanted to. At least not without losing an awful lot of money.
I spent about 6 years working as a techie in the real estate industry. Part was at the regional office of a major Realtor. Most was at the HQ of the largest Multiple Listing Service in the country. They were great jobs. But I wouldn't want to rely on the real estate industry up there for my income right now!
Not only are we lucky that we got out of the DC market when we did, we're also lucky we wound up here! According to The Greenville News, in Upstate South Carolina, home sales are UP 13.3% over last year! Yeah!
So is it a boon or a bust in the real estate market? I guess it depends where you live. In most parts of the country it is a bust. But thankfully in the Upstate it is a boon!
We sold our 2 bedroom townhouse for more than 2 1/2 times what I paid for it in 2000. I hadn't done much in the way of upgrades. Yes, new appliances (Standard ones! I don't buy the mid-life crisis appliances!), and I had refinished all the cabinets in the house. But that's it. We hit on the peak of the housing boon.
Since we moved, two other homes in the community have gone on the market. The first took 6 months to sell. And it sold for $85,000 less than we got. The second is still on the market, and has been for several months. They are holding out for more it seems. But they have still reduced the price to $40,000 less than we got.
Funny, it used to be that within one week of putting a house on the market in the DC area, you'd have multiple contracts. Most houses were closing at prices higher than the list price.
Not any more. The real estate market in the DC area has gone bust. According to The Washington Post, existing home sales have dropped 11.2% in the past year. Ouch.
I think of all the people who bought their homes at the peak, lured by ridiculously low interest rates, with little downpayment. They probably can't afford to move now, even if they wanted to. At least not without losing an awful lot of money.
I spent about 6 years working as a techie in the real estate industry. Part was at the regional office of a major Realtor. Most was at the HQ of the largest Multiple Listing Service in the country. They were great jobs. But I wouldn't want to rely on the real estate industry up there for my income right now!
Not only are we lucky that we got out of the DC market when we did, we're also lucky we wound up here! According to The Greenville News, in Upstate South Carolina, home sales are UP 13.3% over last year! Yeah!
So is it a boon or a bust in the real estate market? I guess it depends where you live. In most parts of the country it is a bust. But thankfully in the Upstate it is a boon!
posted by Susan | 8:36 AM
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