Declining Sales Prices

Real estate is an investment. Whether you buy a home for that reason or not, it is an investment. It is the largest purchase you are ever likely to make. Therefor, it should be looked at just as seriously as professional investors do. True investments are not short term in nature.

In real estate, owning a home for just one or two years IS short term. If you bought a home within the last two years and now want, or need to sell, then yes...it is going to be hard to avoid losing money. This would be the equivalent of buying stocks when they are on the way up and selling when they are on the way down. That's not what the pro's do.

Successful investors don't pay a lot of attention to short term numbers, they look at long term trends. So comparing home prices from five years ago, there has been a tremendous, steady gain. Many areas have seen a 50% - 80% increase over the past five years. So a small "loss" of 2% - 7% in prices in the last year or so is still a long term gain.

The doom and gloom (or Chicken Little Syndrome) many of us hear in the media circles is great for selling papers, or getting people to watch a particular channel, but should not be your primary source of information. Numbers being thrown around are general, not specific to a small enough area for anyone to take to heart. A general number isn't really a good rule of thumb for a state, a county, or even for one town.

For example, Eastern Hillsborough County is different from Western Hillsborough County. Brandon is different from Valrico. Copper Ridge (Valrico) is different from Brandon Brook (also Valrico), which is different from Buckhorn Estates (also Valrico). Do you see the point I'm making? If you truly have concerns about the market value of YOUR home, consult a professional who can look at YOUR area, it's trends and amenities, and apply that to YOUR specific home.

So, is the sky falling? No. Is it raining in a lot of areas? Yes. But don't go building an Ark just yet, the skies are showing signs of clearing up, and for the Tampa Metro area, the forecast is looking pretty promising.

For those interested...you can get a neighborhood trend report e-mailed to you without cost or commitment. Just send me an e-mail with your name and address. If you choose, you can also get updates when homes in a particular neighborhood go on the market and/or sell.

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Best U.S. City To Buy A Home

Forbes Magazine has recently released it's Top 10 List of the best places in America to buy a house. Who made the list? Where's the Best Place? Why is it number 1? Read on to find out.

Forbes Magazine (the on-line edition) teamed up with Moody's Economy.com to announce where they feel are the best places to buy a home...and why. First, what qualifies an area to be considered?

According to Forbes, some of the indicators are when an area has an overall strong, growing economy and comparably modest housing prices. The area must also be overstocked in real estate inventory with plenty of sellers anxious to negotiate. In addition, an area is prime for a market "bounce back" if it is seen as one where prices aren't likely to fall so drastically that buyers are getting in while the market is still sharply on the way down. These areas are typically referred to as "V" Shaped Recovery areas for their sharp decline, followed by a sharp rebound.

While ANY recovery would be a welcome site to all the people trying to sell their home right now, those who live in the areas that made the list may want to think of the "V" as in Victory. Ok, enough already! WHERE'S THE LIST?!?!?!

Here you go (in reverse order for dramatic effect!):

#10. Atlanta
# 9. New York City
# 8. Milwaukee
# 7. San Diego
# 6. Phoenix
# 5. Chicago
# 4. Kansas City
# 3. Miami
# 2. Minneapolis

And the Number One Place In The U.S. To Buy A Home Is.......

# 1. Tampa Bay!!!!!!!!!!

That's right! Tampa Bay. Forbes is saying that the Tampa/St Petersburg/Clearwater area is prime for a strong market recovery and calls it a "...highly resilient market." Projected job growth and a good economy set the tone for correcting the recent market down-turn, paired with investor-heavy inventory beginning to taper off. While Forbes is predicting a first quarter 2008 bottoming for the area, Tampa Metro is their pick for #1!

If you would like to search for homes currently available in the Greater Tampa area, click here.

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