Year-end housing stats for single family homes in Montgomery County are coming in and surprise, surprise, it's still a buyer's market. Sluggish prices, the home-buyers tax credit and interest rates that dipped just below 4% for 30-year fixed mortgages this fall, made it a great year for buyers.
But that doesn't mean sellers were universally hammered. If you sold and bought a new home in 2010, you may have taken a beating on the house you sold, but the combination of depressed prices, tax credit and low interest rates likely more than balanced things out. The prevailing opinion among many local realtors is that 2010 was a great time to sell then buy and Upsize. When you sell and buy in the same market, you can do great no matter what the overall market trends, because selling at a discount and buying at a discount makes it a wash. Folks who sold luxury homes and downsized probably did not do as well, since the market for budget homes is obviously more robust in economically bleak times such as these.
What the Year-End numbers say:
Median housing prices in Montgomery County rebounded to approx $270,000 in 2010, but that is still about 5% off the five-year high of approx $285,000 in 2006. Still, things are better than last year when the median selling price was only about $260,000. While selling prices are creeping back upwards, the volume of properties that change hands continues to plummet from 2006's five-year high. Back in 2006 nearly 9,000 homes were sold in Montgomery County, compared to only about 6,000 in 2010.
What does it all mean?
Interest rates are creeping back up toward 5% but they are still a Roaring Bargain. Since people are more likely to Need to sell rather than Need to buy, we believe the lower volume of recent years will continue to tip scales in favor of buyers. 2011 is another great year to buy a home if you have the means. 2011 is another great year to sell your house and Upsize if you have the ability. 2011 is NOT a great year to sell and downsize or rent, but that's been the case for several years now and there's no reason to expect 2012 or 2013 to be markedly different, so if you gotta go you gotta go.
