Federal support for the mortgage markets is going away in March and the Home Buyer’s Tax Creditc mostly end in April. Those are a couple of things making this home selling season anything but typical. Plus, there are concerns about inflation, deflation and just about everything else in the housing market.
So far, the last part of 2009 and the first part of 2010 have had fairly strong sales in the Lake Chelan valley. Part of the reason for that is there is a bunch of uncertainty as to what happens to mortgage markets after the federal government pulls back its support in March. In all the uncertainty, there aren’t many, if any folks, who believe mortgage rates will go down. The Home Buyer tax credit did create sales in November as well. So, if history repeats itself, sales in April, May may also see some boost because of the extension and expansion of that tax incentive. Buyers hoping to take that credit have to identify their deal and have a sales contract in place by the end of April.
So I am not willing to assure anyone that the relatively strong start to this year will translate into a big summer selling season. The big selling season for this year could be right now! I am not a big optimist and haven’t been advising folks to sell. Even today, prices are still below what every seller would like but they may look great compared to a few years from now. So, if you have a home or real estate at Lake Chelan to get sold, right now may be the hottest market of the year.
