December home sales

Just pulled up numbers on the MLS today - it looks like momentum is gaining in a very positive direction.

December sales 2008 vs. 2007 - 5,500 vs. 3,300 - that's a 67% increase!!! With home prices and interest rates down dramatically, people are realizing that now is the time to act. Who is the biggest group taking advantage of the market conditions today: hands down, it's the first-time home buyer. They can finally enter the market primarily due to housing affordability. In many cases their house payment is either equal to or less than what that had been used to paying in rent, plus now they have the potential for appreciation.

Active listings dipped down to around 52,000 from hanging around the 55,000 mark in what seemed like forever, although that typically happens after month-end. Pending listings currently 5,500.

Although all of 2009 will still be a buyer's market, my belief is that values will continue to decline at a much slower rate that what we have been seeing, and will most likely plateau out the downward spiral sometime between April and June of this year.