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 Newburyport, MA

Latitude: 42.812391 -- Longitude: -70.87744

Other Area Cities: Newburyport Amesbury Boxford Groveland Rowley

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In the city the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $58,557, and the median income for a family was $73,306. Males had a median income of $51,831 versus $37,853 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,187. About 2.8% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Massachusetts 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Newburyport	Massachusetts	United States
Population	17,189	6,349,097	281,421,906
Median age	40.9	36.5	35.3
Median age for Male	39.7	35.4	34
Median age for Female	42	37.7	36.5
Households	7,519	2,443,580	105,480,101
Household population	16,807	6,127,881	273,643,273
Average household size	2.24	2.51	2.59
Families	4,429	1,576,696	71,787,347
Average family size	2.9	3.11	3.14
Housing units	7,897	2,621,989	115,904,641
Occupied units	7,519	2,443,580	105,480,101
Vacant units	378	178,409	10,424,540

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