Ability Realty

Well here we are at mid May and the Federal Tax Credit Program was not extended. Those that had contracts in escrow by April 30th have until June 30th to get them closed. If you were in the Military Service and the proper amount of time overseas, you may have another year to make that purchase. Any service member who is or has been on extended duty for 90 days or more between January 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010, has until April 30, 2011 to sign a sales contract and until June 30, 2011, to close on the property. Both the $8000 first-time and $6500 repeat home buyer tax credits are included in the extension.

The April statistics are pretty much what I expected. The Jump in Days on Market was a shock. I expected it to go up but not so sharply. Everything else seemed to be in line with what I felt would happen with the Tax Credit ending. With that said I suspect we will see negative statistics for possibly the next two months or so. The only item that will have some positive to it will be total units sold which will come down but not drastically for the next two months.

	Nov. 2009	Dec. 2009	Jan. 2010	Feb. 2010	Mar. 2010	Apr. 2010
Average Sales Price	$188,384	$201,216	201,219	$195,996	$201,710	$199,986
Median Sales Price	$162,500	$154,000	$160,000	$150,000	$157,680	$159,000
Total Units Sold*	1011	919	712	741	1169	1227
Active Listings	6350	6130	6618	6739	6799	6603
Days On Market	73	73	73	68	69	87
Listings Under Contract**	947	847	1155	1417	1549	1568

The one really positive factor is we are still hovering around 5% for FHA loans. With that, and still dropping home prices, NOW is really the time to find a nice home. Short Sales will dominate the market, but offer some nice homes. You will have a few months to wait to see if the Sellers Lender will approve your offer. A suggestion is to offer just a little under the fair market value so you are still in the ball park when the Lender gives their approval. Not many of the Lenders are willing to really cut their prices. You take a chance of losing it if you are not willing to accept their counteroffer bringing the price back to market with a low offer and you may have lost 3-5 months of time.

If you are short on closing funds, increase the interest rate so you do not have to pay the origination fee (1% of the loan). If you have a credit score average of 720 look at Conventional financing with 1.5% more down payment, you can have payments of less than an FHA Loan and owe less on the home. Start talking with a lender soon as you will need a Loan Status Report (LSR) to write a contract. From my stand point I do not want to show you properties until you have an LSR so we all know what you can qualify for. This does not mean we have to go with the top price, but you will know what you can do. Ask the Lender what you can purchase for a certain monthly payment.

If you are a Buyer, Seller or a Seller that thinks they need to do a Short Sale contact me for help. I have 30 years of experience selling Homes in Tucson and have a lot of knowledge in my head. My son David and I work together as a team with Mom helping us in the office. Call me on my cell at 520-240-7130 with questions.