There is good news mixed with bad. The 12 month through March 2008 S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index report released yesterday showed national home values are still in a decline. The national average decline is 14%.

The good news is Charlotte is one of the 20 urban metro market areas showing increases. The Charlotte metro market includes Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie and other outline areas or suburbs.

Our home values in the area have shown modest growth in the last few years which maybe the reason for positive home value growth instead of decreases in todays economy. Charlotte area home prices rose less than one percent but at least it is on the plus side.

More good new, home sales have increased slightly in the the northeast. So why is this good news for us southerners? Our area has seen significant migration of home owners from the the northeast to our humble area in the past years. So this is good news for Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie home sellers.

Keep smiling and don’t listen to all of the bad news. Don’t forget to contact Carmen if you are thinking of buying or selling a home.

The quick answer is yes. It seems to be a buyers market for home sales almost everywhere thanks to the media. The media pounds us everyday with bad news about the credit industry, foreclosures, high gas prices, the weak dollar, etc. Some of it is true and some is, well just over exaggerated to say it nicley. So most potential home buyers today think it is a buyers market no matter where they are looking. But we still have a lot of people looking at homes for sale in our area.

So as a potential home buyer in the York County or south Charlotte area what can you expect? Our area has not seen the double or triple digit increases in home values like Florida, northeast, and southwest part of the country in the last few years. Our home values have seen moderate growth. You can find many articles and reports on how our homes have held their values in the last few months. Homes are taking longer to sell today then last year.  If you are coming from one of the over inflated markets, low ball offers on solid (non foreclosures), well kept homes in our area will most likely cause the seller to not want to negotiate. If you want extreme bargains look for foreclosures.

If you are a seller, just putting a sign in your yard today won’t cut it like last year. You need to price your home for today’s market conditions. Many current real estate articles suggest pricing your home without negotiating wiggle room. Carmen can better assist you with your selling price strategy. Other selling tips include boosting your curb appeal. Click here to see Carmen’s tips and Century’s 21′s brochure for more curb appeal and home staging info. If your budget allows, invest in bigger improvements in the make or break it key rooms like the kitchen or bathrooms.

So to sum it up, don’t assume our area has gone completely cold and prices falling dramatically because of the negative national real estate news reports. If you would like to do your own market research, Carmen has a great tool called the MLS Market Snapshot (for Buyers and Sellers). The system is from a company called Top Producer. The MLS Market Snapshot tool searches current home sales and listings in a defined area and reports to you automatically on a monthly basis via email on the current trend. She probably does not want me to say this but she is paying for it and the report is absolutely free for you to use. Carmen has the MLS Snapshot tool on her blog and website.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has increased the loan limits for the Charlotte Metro Area. This includes YORK County, SC. This increase is a much needed expansion for FHA loans in the Charlotte market. Families needing a larger home that have limited funds for making a down payment can still get a quality fixed rate loan. FHA offers 97.75% financing, meaning that only 2.25% of the purchase price must be paid by the home buyer as a down payment. An additional .75% of the purchase price would then have to be paid by the home buyer towards closing costs, which brings the total required cash investment for a home buyer to only 3%!

FHA loans have always been looked at as loans for the first time home buyer or for lower income families. This is not the case. There are no income limits for FHA loans and you do not have to be a first time home buyer. These loans offer attractive low interest rates, and although ARM loans are available with FHA, their strength is with fixed rate loans.

There is one minor drawback to FHA financing. Mortgage Insurance Premium or MIP is required in both a financed upfront form and a monthly fee that is added to your payment. Conventional loans also require a similar insurance called PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance). The true difference is the upfront 1.5% that is typically financed into the FHA loan. The bottom-line is that with less than 5% down, the FHA loan would still have a better monthly payment than its conventional counterpart, and if the loan is paid off early a portion of the upfront MIP is refundable.

Olan Carder
American Security Mortgage
www.charlottemortgageonline.com
ocarder@1asmc.com