And the Good News Is...

November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

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Local Information for Albany, NY

Latitude: 42.659829 -- Longitude: -73.781339

Other Area Cities: Hudson Albany Delmar Loudonville Colonie Troy Cohoes

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Albany is the capital of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 95,658. It is the county seat of Albany County. The City of Albany lies 145 miles (233 km) north of and slightly east of New York City, and slightly to the south of the juncture of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Albany has close ties with the cities of Troy, New York and Schenectady, New York, forming what is generally known as the [Capital District], which in turn makes up the bulk of the Albany-Troy-Schenectady-Saratoga Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of 825,875, making it the fourth largest urban area in New York State. Albany is built on the site of the Dutch Fort Orange, and its surrounding community of Beverwyck. The English acquired the site from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed it Albany, in honor of the Duke of Albany. A 1686 document issued by Thomas Dongan granted Albany an official charter. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

New York 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Albany	New York	United States
Population	95,658	18,976,457	281,421,906
Median age	31.4	35.9	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	34.5	34
Median age for Female	32.8	37.2	36.5
Households	40,709	7,056,860	105,480,101
Household population	85,756	18,395,996	273,643,273
Average household size	2.11	2.61	2.59
Families	18,397	4,639,387	71,787,347
Average family size	2.95	3.22	3.14
Housing units	45,288	7,679,307	115,904,641
Occupied units	40,709	7,056,860	105,480,101
Vacant units	4,579	622,447	10,424,540

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