WBJ Posts Similar Market Improvements in DC

So I’m not the only one…I just read an article in the Washington Business Journal titled “Real estate agents seeing early bursts of home buying.”  The article couldnt be more on track with what my team and I are seeing.  Over the past 30 days, traffic to BuildingDC.com has increased 12%, our phones are ringing off of the hook, we just hired on our full time Admin, Patti Cumming, and we are hiring another agent this week to accomodate the increases.

Why the sudden change?

There are several attributions I can make to help understand the increase in business…

Rock-bottom mortgage rates – this past week my preferred lender Masoud Hosseini with Countrywide (lendingdc.com) locked in one of my clients at 4.75%.  How much better than that does it get?  The Federal Government is almost losing money on every FHA backed loan to help spur home buyers to begin buying again.

One of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 6.1% – 03/2009 – while we may not have the lowest unemployment rates in the country, we are in the bottom 10%.  With low unemployment comes a stable economy.  Since we are doing relatively well, and the Government is hiring right now, it is expected that our housing market will maintain a stable level.

Increase in demand due to the Spring market – annual trending shows market activity to increase the most in the Spring market.  With school years ending, the weather being more accomodating, and the natural movement of people, this is the time it will all take place.

Growth in Federal Government job market – we all know what has happened in the financial markets over the past few months.  There is no need to beat a dead horse.  What is worth discussing is the fact that due to what has happened, the Government is increasing the number of regulators on their payroll to help ensure nothing like this happens again.  Where do you think the job growth will take place?  Right here in Washington.

Decrease in supply – as many sellers have made alternative decisions besides selling their homes and the existing homes that have been on the market are being purchased, the remaining active listings decreases.  As a result the currently active properties on the market will offer buyers fewer choices.

Fannie & Freddie now allow ten investment properties – up from four last month.  For the past 9 months, the maximum allowed number of mortgages Fannie & Freddie would lend to a single borrower was four.  Not a lender I could find would lend beyond that number, and the reason for it seemed to be that a drastic number of investors across the country were partially to blame for the downturn in the market, and many were on the top of the foreclosure list for banks.

Consumers have stopped panicking – now that there is a consumer-wide acceptance of where the economy is and what we have to expect, buyers are beginning to make more ‘normal’ decisions in their daily lives – including home ownership.