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Hi, this is Gary Edelbrock here, with my friend Charlie Arnold, and I've asked him to give us a recap on 2009, and a sneak peak at what we might be able to expect in 2010 as far as the real estate market is concerned.

Whew! We Made it Through

2009 has been a difficult year for the real estate market nationwide, and can be evidenced on nearly every street and in every neighborhood in the Quad City area.  Before 2009 you would be hard pressed to find someone who understood the definition of a real estate short sale, however with short sales and foreclosures dominating the news these words have become common place at home and at work.    The beginning of 2009 started just as 2008 had left it; sales dropping, foreclosures rising, inventory growing, and a question of when will this stop.

In the first quarter alone the median home price in Prescott had dropped from $314,000 to $235,000 and both Prescott Valley and Chino Valley followed the same trend.  Also during the first quarter our market only averaged 123 residential closing per month.   The second quarter started to show some stabilization in prices and a small increase in the average residential closings to 175.  Early 2009 also saw the introduction of the first time home buyer tax credit as well as dropping interest rates.

It wasn’t till the third quarter that our market began to see some positive news, the inventory of available properties began to shrink from over 3000 to today’s numbers of approximately 2200 homes.  This reduction in inventory is an indicator of an improvement to our market, but even more telling is the average residential sales of 238 per month.  This coupled with the record low interest rates and sales prices at levels not seen in years lead to a even better fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter of 2009 has continued to show some improvement in the average monthly closings now at 200 up from 150 for the fourth quarter of 2008.  Also during this time the federal government has put in to place a new tax credit for existing homeowners to purchase a new home while also providing a new first time homebuyer credit to the replace the one that expired in November.

As we have seen 2009 has not been a great year for the real estate market, however with the positive indicators such as the increase in 3rd and 4th quarter sales, Record low interest rates around 5%, the stabilization of home pricing, the reduction in inventory and the options now available to buyers, 2010 should prove to be a great time to get off the sidelines and make a move in local market and be sure to tae advantage of the tax credits.    Tune in to Real Estate Weekly on KQNA 1130am, 99.9 fm and KQNA.com January 2 at 7am as we discuss the New Year’s resolution for the Real Estate Market.

Charlie Arnold
Host of Real Estate Weekly
KQNA 1130am & 99.9fm

PS.  Those of you who are looking to buy a Short Sale or Bank Owned property be sure plan for some possible delays in the processing the transaction - don’t expect to always close in 30 days.