Fall is in the air...

There has been a flurry of activity with families scrambling to get into their new homes before school begins. Interest rates are holding well, but mortgages are getting tougher to obtain with banks tightening policies regarding money down, appraisals, and credit scores.

It still looks like a pretty strong buyers market, but housing prices have stabilized a bit... check out the article at the bottom of this blog for a quick explanation from an organization named Global Insight... interesting reading.

I have several new listings this month as well as a couple in the works, and a few pretty significant price decreases. Hit the link above for my listings... I'd appreciate you forwarding that link to anyone you know that might be looking for a great home in the area.

The family is great... Dave came home for a quick 4 day weekend to attend a family wedding. Lauren & Bella really have missed him and Bella is being a real trooper about the whole move. She is counting down the days until he'll be home. He is released from the Army on 9/11, and will drive home with his brother in law... we expect him to rejoin civilian life with us around 9/14...

Jessy was home for two weeks for summer break and Anthony joined us for the wedding as well. She just returned for her final push toward her masters... she should be finished in April, and I know she's looking forward to starting her career.

Kelly & I are well... haven't spent a lot of time on the motorcycles. Between weather oddities and Bella (& Laurens) ice cream fixation we've been a little busy evenings.

We appreciate all of your support in our real estate business... your referrals are appreciated. Please don't hesitate to pass my information on to anyone that has a real estate need, or anyone that just has a question they need answered... I'm happy to help.

See you in October

Dave


Global Insight WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Insight, the world's
leading company for economic and financial analysis and forecasting, today
released the second quarter 2008 update of the U.S. housing valuation
analysis, House Prices in America, showing that single-family home prices
continue to fall across the country, though at a slower rate than last
quarter, and that extreme overvaluation of house prices is essentially
nonexistent, a sign the nation's housing "bubble" has popped and house prices
reflect a healthy balance in relation to long-term fundamentals.

Nationwide, house prices are down 4.8% from a year ago, this housing
cycle's peak high point. Prices fell in the second quarter in 152 of the 330
metro areas covered in the study, representing 46% of all single-family
housing units in the U.S. The second quarter decline of 5.3% (annualized)
compares with a 6.6% decline in the first quarter 2008, which represented 267
(81%) of 330 metro areas. For comparison, 295 (89%) declined in the fourth
quarter of 2007.

California, Florida and Michigan continue to account for the most severe
losses, representing 43 of the 50 worst performing metropolitan areas.
California and Florida had been among the most overvalued states for the past
several years. Michigan continues to struggle with the impact of a slumping
economy.