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 Gilbert, AZ

Latitude: 33.344439 -- Longitude: -111.762411

Other Area Cities: Chandler Gilbert Mesa Tempe Queen Creek Higley Sun Lakes

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Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. Gilbert was the fastest-growing incorporated place of over 100,000 people in the United States from 1990 to 2000, as well as in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Census estimates. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 109,697, but as of July, 2004, a Census estimate put the fast-growing suburb's population at just over 156,000, a growth of more than 46,000 people or 42% over the four-year period. The 2005 mid-decade Census survey placed the estimated population for the town at 173,072. Although it is large and growing rapidly, Gilbert is still incorporated as a town rather than as a city; it has the highest population of any area incorporated as a town in the United States (and the second largest in North America, after Markham, Ontario, Canada), and as of the 2000 census was the only town with more than 100,000 people. Gilbert was also the fastest-growing place among all cities and towns in Arizona. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Arizona 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Gilbert	Arizona	United States
Population	109,697	5,130,632	281,421,906
Median age	30.1	34.2	35.3
Median age for Male	30	32.9	34
Median age for Female	30.3	35.5	36.5
Households	35,405	1,901,327	105,480,101
Household population	109,631	5,020,782	273,643,273
Average household size	3.1	2.64	2.59
Families	28,915	1,287,367	71,787,347
Average family size	3.42	3.18	3.14
Housing units	37,007	2,189,189	115,904,641
Occupied units	35,405	1,901,327	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,602	287,862	10,424,540

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