Economics...Your Realtor's POV

As a graduate of the Kelley School of Business, I took my share of Economics Courses which I actually enjoyed. (They were far more interesting than accounting or HTML programming, yuck!) Anyway, I have been recently thinking about the very basics of Economics...Supply and Demand, Law of Supply/Demand, Excess Supply/Demand, and Consumer choices & costs..etc. etc., and how it related to my industry and my business, Real Estate. I THINK there is certainly a demand for housing...its a great time to BUY, rates are at ALL time lows. People WANT to buy a house if they are currently in the rental market (can pay less on a Mortgage than rent), and there is a group of people that are either in a MOVE-UP or MOVE-Down Market....sooo, what are the issues:

1. The Lending Environment is still rather hostile.
2. Sellers who want or need to move owe more than they can sell for.
3. Even though the Rental Market is favorable, lenders make it difficult to "rent" out your current home so you can buy another (in a Move-up Situation) EVEN if you qualify w/ required debt-to-income ratios.

AND, the Supply is still rather high in Most Areas...

but, really its all relative to what neighborhood you are looking at & living in...

I live/work in the Zionsville, Carmel, Indy Northside...although, sales have been down, prices actually improved in Hamilton & Boone Counties.

Its really a good idea, if you have any inclination of Selling your home or buying a new one, consult a REALTOR, like me, to tell you what is going on in YOUR neighborhood. TRY NOT TO LISTEN TOO MUCH TO THE MEDIA--usually the statistics they give are on a National or Regional level, and things may actually be different in your backyard. Also, websites such as trulia.com & zillow.com often have dated and inaccurate info as well.

FOR MORE INFO ON YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, give me a call or email : sshoup@taktotucker.com or 317-339-6141 cell/text.

Sometimes I think that the media has invented the "double dip recession concept".