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 Wayne, NJ

Latitude: 40.942081 -- Longitude: -74.250452

Other Area Cities: East Rutherford Allendale Wayne Butler Elmwood Park Franklin Lakes Kinnelon Little Falls Lyndhurst Oakland Paterson Pequannock Pompton Lakes Riverdale Wanaque Fair Lawn Montville West Paterson Clinton

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In 1694, Arent Schuyler, a young surveyor, miner and land speculator, was sent into north western New Jersey to investigate rumors that the French were trying to incite the local Lenni-Lenape Native American population to rebel against the English. Schuyler found no evidence of a rebellion, but discovered a rich fertile valley where the Lenni-Lenape grew a variety of crops. Schuyler reported his findings to the English and then convinced Major Anthony Brockholst, Samuel Bayard, Samuel Berry, Hendrick and David Mandeville, George Ryerson and John Mead to invest in the purchase of the land he referred to as the Pompton Valley. The seven chose Schuyler to be negotiator with the Lenape for the rights to the area. Samual Bayard, however, was chosen to negotiate with the East Jersey Company which maintained land rights over the area that is now Wayne. Approximately 5,000 acres were purchased on November 11, 1695. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

New Jersey 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Wayne	New Jersey	United States
Population	54,069	8,414,350	281,421,906
Median age	40	36.7	35.3
Median age for Male	39	35.5	34
Median age for Female	41	38	36.5
Households	18,755	3,064,645	105,480,101
Household population	51,336	8,219,529	273,643,273
Average household size	2.74	2.68	2.59
Families	14,370	2,154,539	71,787,347
Average family size	3.19	3.21	3.14
Housing units	19,218	3,310,275	115,904,641
Occupied units	18,755	3,064,645	105,480,101
Vacant units	463	245,630	10,424,540

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