Home Sale on the Rise

Home sales still on rise
Number of listings continue to drop
By Tony WaggonerTuesday, November 18, 2008 10:23 PM MST

It may be a reflection of the economic times that the median price of single-family residential homes sold in Lake Havasu City has continued to drop, as more homes continue to sell.The average median sale price for residential homes for October in Lake Havasu City dropped to $166,750, the lowest mark in a year, according to figures released by the Lake Havasu Association of Realtors. The average median price in October 2007 was $206,000. This year’s figures mark an almost $40,000 drop in home listings sold.Overall residential sales dropped from almost $21million in September to around $20 million.It is definitely a buyer’s market, said Pat Landry, the new President of the Lake Havasu Association of Realtors. Interest rates on homes are low, and buyers have more of a selection.Landry says this is the reason more homes are selling in the community. After two months of plateau, the number of residential homes sold did increase from 87 in August and September to 94 in October. The number of homes sold greatly increased over October 2007, jumping from 70 to 94.While the number of homes sold may not be that substantial, Landry says Realtors are staying busy.“We’ve been busier than ever,” she said. “We have seen several customers at one time and are showing more homes than we were at the beginning of the year.”According to Landry, prospective buyers are also viewing more homes. She said Realtors are often showing 30 to 50 homes to one client.She did warn prospective buyers should take advantage of lower priced homes now, because in a year’s time, things may not be the same.The number of residential listings in Lake Havasu City continues to increase. While not reaching the 1,763 mark of November 2007, the number of listings for October was at its highest total since February of this year at 1,553 listings.Sellers should be aware of the competition, too, according to Landry. She said the best time to sell a home is within the first 60 days. After that, sellers would likely be forced to reduce the price of their homes.Landry said they are seeing many bank home foreclosures, causing the numbers of listings to go up.A lot of the home sales have been for foreclosed homes as well. Almost 75 percent of the homes sold this year have been foreclosures.With winter visitors on their way back in the next few months, Landry expects home sales could continue to go up, as could rentals. Quite a few of these renters, she said, would go on to purchase the home.

Source Todays News Herald