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 Edwardsville, IL

Latitude: 38.803986 -- Longitude: -89.958195

Other Area Cities: Edwardsville Bethalto Maryville Glen Carbon

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Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2005 census, the city population was 24,047, it is the county seat of Madison CountyGR6 and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, Governor of Illinois. It is a community that is rich in history and full of beautiful homes and neighborhoods. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the Edwardsville Journal, the Madison County Record and the Edwardsville Intelligencer are located here. Edwardsville is a part of Metro-East and the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. It neighbors with Glen Carbon, IL. The two cities form a township to support the Edwardsville School District #7. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Illinois 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Edwardsville	Illinois	United States
Population	21,491	12,419,293	281,421,906
Median age	33.4	34.7	35.3
Median age for Male	33.1	33.3	34
Median age for Female	33.6	36	36.5
Households	7,975	4,591,779	105,480,101
Household population	19,483	12,097,512	273,643,273
Average household size	2.44	2.63	2.59
Families	5,203	3,105,513	71,787,347
Average family size	2.99	3.23	3.14
Housing units	8,331	4,885,615	115,904,641
Occupied units	7,975	4,591,779	105,480,101
Vacant units	356	293,836	10,424,540

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