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 Brighton, MI

Latitude: 42.526576 -- Longitude: -83.783835

Other Area Cities: Brighton Ann Arbor Whitmore Lake Hartland Howell Milford Highland Park

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Brighton is a city in Livingston County, the fastest growing county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,701. Brighton incorporates land that had formerly been parts of Brighton Township, Green Oak Township, and Genoa Township. Although the municipal boundaries do not include any of Hamburg Township, it is considered to be part of the greater Brighton area. The City of Brighton's Wastewater Treatment Plant facility is located in Hamburg Township and services not only the City of Brighton, but also parts of Genoa, Brighton, and Hamburg Township. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Michigan 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Brighton	Michigan	United States
Population	6,701	9,938,444	281,421,906
Median age	37.4	35.5	35.3
Median age for Male	34.8	34.3	34
Median age for Female	39.9	36.6	36.5
Households	3,103	3,785,661	105,480,101
Household population	6,657	9,688,555	273,643,273
Average household size	2.15	2.56	2.59
Families	1,748	2,575,699	71,787,347
Average family size	2.87	3.1	3.14
Housing units	3,241	4,234,279	115,904,641
Occupied units	3,103	3,785,661	105,480,101
Vacant units	138	448,618	10,424,540

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