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 Kailua, HI

Latitude: 19.649973 -- Longitude: -155.994028

Other Area Cities: Kailua Honolulu

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Kailua is a town, located in the City & County of Honolulu, in the Ko?olaupoko District of O?ahu on the windward coast at Kailua Bay. In the Hawaiian language Kailua means "two seas" a contraction of the words kai (meaning water) and ?elua (meaning two); it is so named because of the two lagoons in the district. As of the 2000 Census, the CDP had a total population of 36,513, approximately as large as nearby Kane?ohe. Kailua is primarily a residential community, with a centralized commercial district along Kailua Road. Places of note in Kailua include Kailua Beach Park (photo at right), Lanikai Beach, Kawai Nui Marsh, and Marine Corps Base Hawai?i. Kailua Beach has been repeatedly ranked among the best beaches worldwide. It was ranked as #1 U.S. beach in 1998. The U.S. postal code for Kailua is 96734. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Hawaii 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Kailua	Hawaii	United States
Population	9,870	1,211,537	281,421,906
Median age	35.5	36.2	35.3
Median age for Male	34.8	35.1	34
Median age for Female	36	37.4	36.5
Households	3,537	403,240	105,480,101
Household population	9,846	1,175,755	273,643,273
Average household size	2.78	2.92	2.59
Families	2,431	287,068	71,787,347
Average family size	3.26	3.42	3.14
Housing units	4,322	460,542	115,904,641
Occupied units	3,537	403,240	105,480,101
Vacant units	785	57,302	10,424,540

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