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!

As of 11/21/09 the Diana Haywood RePage is ranked at 3,359 with 55 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 Newton, MA

Latitude: 42.337713 -- Longitude: -71.209936

Other Area Cities: Newton Wellesley Hills Brookline Chestnut Hill Dover Arlington Wellesley Sherborn Sudbury Waltham Watertown Wayland

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts west of Boston. According to the 2000 census, the population of the city was 83,829. Based on statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newton was the nation's safest city during 2003, 2004 and 2005. The designation is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft.[1] Newton does not have a single town center, but is rather a patchwork of 13 "villages", many boasting small "downtown" areas of their own. The 13 Villages are: Auburndale, Chestnut Hill, Newton Centre, Newton Corner, Newton Highlands, Newton Lower Falls, Newton Upper Falls (both on the Charles River, and both once small industrial sites), Newtonville, Nonantum (also called Silver Lake), Oak Hill, Thompsonville, Waban, and West Newton. Although most of the villages have a post office, they have no legal definition and no firmly defined borders. See The Thirteen Villages Newton -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Massachusetts 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Newton	Massachusetts	United States
Population	83,829	6,349,097	281,421,906
Median age	38.7	36.5	35.3
Median age for Male	37.5	35.4	34
Median age for Female	39.7	37.7	36.5
Households	31,201	2,443,580	105,480,101
Household population	78,251	6,127,881	273,643,273
Average household size	2.51	2.51	2.59
Families	20,485	1,576,696	71,787,347
Average family size	3.04	3.11	3.14
Housing units	32,112	2,621,989	115,904,641
Occupied units	31,201	2,443,580	105,480,101
Vacant units	911	178,409	10,424,540

Visit US Census