In this issue of market focus I decided to take a look at three neighborhoods in Monroe. The results are not necessarily a surprise to you since we all know that real estate values have dropped. The questions I often hear from homeowners and buyers are; how much?, will they continue to drop? or, how can I sell my home in this market?

The first question can be answered by the trend lines in these graphs. The answer to the second question is; the outcome depends on many factors that are outside our control such as lenders tightening their credit, economic conditions, employment, etc. The answer to the last question lies within your own motivation for selling and your willingness to face the market objectively and participate in it competitively.

Many agents will not freely provide the information contained in this report due to fear that they are giving away their knowledge or services. On the other hand, I feel that the real value of an agent comes in their ability to take the market data and utilize this information to position and market a property competitively, and get it sold. Data is just factual information, what you do with it is what makes an agent a great agent.

The three graphs in this report show the market activity for three neighborhoods with very similar attributes and in close proximity to each other. We are looking at "The Farm", "The Foothills" and "Trombley Hills" developments.

Trombley Hill experienced the sharpest decline due to the last few sales that occurred recently. The Foothills development, just before gathering this data, was holding off very well. In fact, the data was indicating that values were leveling off. Well, that leveling was changed by the last sale for $250,000 that pulled the trend downwards. The Farm appears to be holding better as the trend suggests. Home values have declined but not as sharply as the other two neighborhoods.

Many sellers these days have their homes on the market but they are not “IN” the market. Simply putting a for-sale yard sign and picking a wishful asking price is not enough these days. Buyers are being very particular about what they buy, they want good value. They have many choices, and as this report shows, they have three very similar neighborhoods to choose from. Some sellers argue that there are no buyers. But the truth is that buyers are out there and they are buying property. In fact, they are buying the best priced homes in each of these neighborhoods. The reason the other homes are not selling is because they are on the market and not “IN” the market.

We are currently experiencing a great buyers market. If you are considering moving up or down, then this may be your opportunity to find a great buying opportunity. If you have to sell your home in order to buy a new one, then you would need to be “IN” the market to be able to take advantage of this buyer’s market when you buy your next home. If you wait for the market to turn around in favor of sellers, well then you may end up missing the buying opportunities since once the market turns, it turns for both sellers and buyers. Making a move in this market is not for everyone. Each situation is different with it’s own set of circumstances. However, I can show you how to take advantage of this market and turn it to your favor. If you are interested, just give me a call for an informal meeting and discuss some real possibilities.

Please feel free to post your comments.