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 11/22/09 the Gregory Benfatti RePage is ranked at 2,031 with 70 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 Slidell, LA

Latitude: 30.27904 -- Longitude: -89.777744

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

In 1882, the New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad began construction on a new railroad connecting New Orleans to Cincinnati, Ohio through Meridian, Mississippi. One of the building camps on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain continued to expand well after the completion of the railroad, and was eventually chartered as a city by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1888. Though he supposedly never set foot in the town, Slidell takes its name from John Slidell, Confederate revolutionary, major figure in the Trent Affair, and father-in-law to Baron Erlanger, head of the banking syndicate which financed the railroad. Colonel Leon Fremaux drew up the original plans for the city, naming the largest street for Erlanger and a smaller for himself. Ironically, Fremaux Avenue is now a major artery, far overshadowing Erlanger Avenue. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Louisiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Slidell	Louisiana	United States
Population	25,695	4,468,976	281,421,906
Median age	37	34	35.3
Median age for Male	35.3	32.6	34
Median age for Female	38.6	35.3	36.5
Households	9,480	1,656,053	105,480,101
Household population	25,348	4,333,011	273,643,273
Average household size	2.67	2.62	2.59
Families	7,155	1,156,438	71,787,347
Average family size	3.09	3.16	3.14
Housing units	10,133	1,847,181	115,904,641
Occupied units	9,480	1,656,053	105,480,101
Vacant units	653	191,128	10,424,540

Visit US Census