3.99% fixed rate conventional 30-year mortgage with no points. Seriously? Yes, I saw one of my lenders offering that last week. Crazy!! It is unlikely that they will go much, if any lower, but then we thought that was the case at 4.375% last month. The effects of the housing tax credit expiring are being felt in the Indy market and throughout the country. As an example, here are some stats from July 2010 compared to July 2009:
29% decrease in homes closed
23% decrease in pending home sales
9% increase in average sales price-yea!
1% increase in price/s.f.
6.6% increase in homes currently available for sale
11.26 months of inventory currently on the market vs. 7.48 months in July 2009
Aside from values increasing, we are seeing some sobering numbers come in. The best markets as far as lowest months of available inventory is, believe it or not Decatur Township with 7.47 months of inventory and Carmel Clay Township with 7.88 months of inventory. The worst is downtown Indy with 24.73 months of inventory!!!
What does all of this mean? Well, with such low interest rates and higher inventory and a trend of increasing housing values, this is a great time to buy a house!! Not to sound too salesy here, but we are seeing values recover, but super-low interest rates and lots of choices. If you are thinking your window of opportunity has closed, think again. Conversely, if you already own your home and you have a 30-year interest rate of 5% or more, do yourself a favor and talk with a reputable lender about whether or not it makes financial sense to take advantage of these crazy low interest rates and save some money. E-mail me if you would like some names of good lenders in the area.
