How do you know if your housing market has reached the bottom?

November 20, 2008

All markets are different. During the next few years, some housing markets will turn around faster than others. How do you know when your particular market has reached its bottom? If you wait until others pick over the great deals, you'll miss the bottom.

Keep a track of how many properties are listed from month to month. Once you start to see a reduction in inventory then that may mean that buyers are starting to buy. There could be two reasons whey inventory is reducing – overpriced homes may be taken off the market and sales volume could be picking up. You can find out this information from your local real estate agent.

Keep reading national and local newspapers. If your local media reporters are now starting to interview experts in your market and asking questions like, “Have we reached the bottom?” then that might be a sign that there may be a shift.

Talk to your friends and co-workers. How are they feeling about your local economy and housing prices? Are they more optimistic now than they were 3 months ago, or even last month?

Consumer confidence will be a big part in the housing market turning around.

Be on the lookout for mortgage interest rates stabilizing and mortgage companies start to ease lending restrictions.

One of the biggest indicators is when prices have stopped dropping. The secret is to buy before they start to inch back up again!

I’m not suggesting that you wait till the absolute bottom of your market to buy. You have to look at a home as a place to live, not an investment. Only you can determine what an affordable monthly payment is relative to the value of the home you are purchasing. There are individual homes for sale that can be bought at the bottom of your market, even if homes in general have not reached that mark.

Talk to a trusted real estate agent – we can help!

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Local Information for McKinleyville, CA

Latitude: 40.947392 -- Longitude: -124.102547

Other Area Cities: McKinleyville Fortuna Eureka Arcata

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McKinleyville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Humboldt County, California, United States. The population was 13,599 at the 2000 census. As of the census of 2000, there were 13,599 people, 5,277 households, and 3,604 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 251.5/km² (651.4/mi²). There were 5,494 housing units at an average density of 101.6/km² (263.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.64% White, 0.38% Black or African American, 4.56% Native American, 1.07% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.66% from other races, and 4.63% from two or more races. 4.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

California 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	McKinleyville	California	United States
Population	13,599	33,871,648	281,421,906
Median age	35.2	33.3	35.3
Median age for Male	33.7	32.2	34
Median age for Female	36.6	34.4	36.5
Households	5,277	11,502,870	105,480,101
Household population	13,592	33,051,894	273,643,273
Average household size	2.58	2.87	2.59
Families	3,604	7,920,049	71,787,347
Average family size	3.01	3.43	3.14
Housing units	5,494	12,214,549	115,904,641
Occupied units	5,277	11,502,870	105,480,101
Vacant units	217	711,679	10,424,540

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