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 11/30/09 the Judy Armstrong RePage is ranked at 468 with 1,520 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 Staunton, VA

Latitude: 38.15792 -- Longitude: -79.07645

Other Area Cities: Staunton Waynesboro

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

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

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

Staunton (IPA: ['stæntn?] or "STAN-tehn" or "STANT-en") is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,853 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Augusta CountyGR6. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Staunton (along with nearby Waynesboro) with Augusta county for statistical purposes. The city was originally named Augusta Courthouse and was the westernmost courthouse in British North America prior to the American Revolution. In 1908, Staunton was the first city in the world to adopt a city manager form of government, an outgrowth of the Progressive movement, which has been repeated in many locations since.[1] It is known for being the birthplace of the 28th U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson and the home of the Mary Baldwin College, a women's college that features a number of unique programs, including the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership and the Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Virginia 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Staunton	Virginia	United States
Population	23,853	7,078,515	281,421,906
Median age	39.8	35.7	35.3
Median age for Male	38.5	34.5	34
Median age for Female	41.2	36.8	36.5
Households	9,676	2,699,173	105,480,101
Household population	21,216	6,847,117	273,643,273
Average household size	2.19	2.54	2.59
Families	5,766	1,847,796	71,787,347
Average family size	2.81	3.04	3.14
Housing units	10,427	2,904,192	115,904,641
Occupied units	9,676	2,699,173	105,480,101
Vacant units	751	205,019	10,424,540

Visit US Census