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 South Bend, IN

Latitude: 41.672597 -- Longitude: -86.255157

Other Area Cities: Elkhart Mishawaka South Bend Goshen

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South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 107,789; its metropolitan area had a population of 316,663. It is the fourth largest city in Indiana. The city is the county seat of St. Joseph CountyGR6. It is the economic and cultural hub of the region commonly known as Michiana. South Bend was initially laid out in 1831 as the county seat and as one of the four original townships of St. Joseph County. Around 128 people lived in the area at the time, mostly fur traders, merchants, and innkeepers. South Bend was organized as a town in 1835 and was incorporated as a city in 1865. During the late 1830s through the 1850s, much of South Bend's development centered around the industrial complex of factories located on the two races (man-made canals along the St. Joseph River in South Bend). -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Indiana 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	South Bend	Indiana	United States
Population	107,789	6,080,485	281,421,906
Median age	32.7	35.2	35.3
Median age for Male	30.8	33.9	34
Median age for Female	34.7	36.5	36.5
Households	42,908	2,336,306	105,480,101
Household population	104,972	5,902,331	273,643,273
Average household size	2.45	2.53	2.59
Families	25,956	1,602,501	71,787,347
Average family size	3.12	3.05	3.14
Housing units	46,349	2,532,319	115,904,641
Occupied units	42,908	2,336,306	105,480,101
Vacant units	3,441	196,013	10,424,540

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