And the Good News Is...

November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

As of 12/04/09 the Robert Jay Rands RePage is ranked at 4,411 with 60 points.
The monthly top RePage owner will receive a cash prize. Help this agent by bookmarking this site and posting it to blogs and other Web pages and encourage others to visit.

Local Information for Muskegon, MI

Latitude: 43.226581 -- Longitude: -86.247739

Other Area Cities: Muskegon Grand Haven Muskegon Heights Norton Shores Spring Lake

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Muskegon photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of Muskegon and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

Muskegon is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 40,105. The city is the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan6. The city is located at the southwest corner of Muskegon Township, but is politically independent. Muskegon is the greater populated of two principal cities of and included in the Muskegon-Norton Shores, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is further included in the larger Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan Combined Statistical Area. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Michigan 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Muskegon	Michigan	United States
Population	40,105	9,938,444	281,421,906
Median age	32.3	35.5	35.3
Median age for Male	31.5	34.3	34
Median age for Female	33.6	36.6	36.5
Households	14,569	3,785,661	105,480,101
Household population	35,278	9,688,555	273,643,273
Average household size	2.42	2.56	2.59
Families	8,535	2,575,699	71,787,347
Average family size	3.13	3.1	3.14
Housing units	15,999	4,234,279	115,904,641
Occupied units	14,569	3,785,661	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,430	448,618	10,424,540

Visit US Census