What now after the tax incentive?

I’ve seen alot of media coverage this week regarding the deadline for the tax credit for buyers, and whether it made things ‘busier’ than usual.

This I can only address from my personal team experience – we are busier for clients coming AFTER the deadline has passed than during the tax credit bonus program.

We have more people, in higher price ranges, scheduled to see homes next week (and they are prequalified and ready to buy right away) than we did in the last couple of months.

Of the clients we have served over the last couple of months, only a small percentage of those clients referenced the tax credit deadline as a crunch time and a reason for buying. It did not feel to us like that was the primary incentive for them to buy a home.

What I am noticing during my twice daily checks of the market is that the higher end areas are selling right now, and of those homes that are selling – most have had substantial to moderate price reductions. The sellers have been getting more competitive in the market pricing strategies to get their homes sold, resulting in more pending sales in that price range from 500K and up.

Another interesting this is that I have had more sign/web calls on properties that have been on the market, gone pending – only to have the phone ring with someone inquiring “what happened to that house, I’ve been watching it for months and now it’s not on your website anymore!” Yes, it finally sold! I believe that buyers are going to experience more disappointments by not moving ahead on properties that they really like – thinking that they can ‘wait things out’…only to find their dream home being secured by another buyer contract.

These are all good ‘experience’ signs for the market that buyers and sellers might be showing us activity that proves to be healthy for our housing market.

Cheers to all!