By Thomas Harding
So things are on the up.
According to local realtors we are seeing an extremely active market in the sub $300,000 range, with multiple offers commonplace. We are even witnessing  the return of escalation clauses from buyers, something we haven’t seen since the heady days of 2005 and 2006.
We are also seeing the return of investors, another indicator that we have moved beyond the bottom of the market and that people are wanting to invest their extra cash in real estate before prices go on the rise.
The other good …

By Thomas Harding
If I tell you the good news, will you forgive me? Or should I start with bad news, so that you will trust me more when I say that things are getting better?
Okay, here’s the bad news: Appraisers are struggling to find the value that has been agreed by buyers and sellers. This is causing real heartache in the market, and many a decent contract has been tripped up in recent months because the contract value is higher than the appraised value. As soon as sales pick up, …

By Thomas Harding
This month I intend to overwhelm you with data . . . so strap on your seatbelts and let’s go for it.
First, let me introduce a new statistic to my loyal readers: the ratio between homes sold (“solds”) and homes on the market (“inventory”). Let’s call this ratio the sold/inventory ratio.
This ratio is often used by economists to determine the health of the real estate market. As you can see from Graph 1, the sold/inventory ratio was incredibly low in the months leading up to spring 2005. For …

By Thomas Harding    
Each New Year the Jefferson County Assessor sends notices to local property owners informing them of any increase in their real estate assessments. This year’s letters have been mailed, and they bring with them good news for most homeowners. Of the 30,000 parcels in the county, only 800 will see an assessment increase this year. The vast majority, perhaps as much as 80 percent, will see a dramatic decrease.
 Angie Banks, in her second year as assessor, says it has been a tough few months. “It has been a …

By Thomas Harding
For the past six years I have called local real estate profession-als to ask for their predictions for the next year. Here are their fore-casts for 2010.
Jackie Lewis, broker, Green-tree Real Estate. The real estate market hasn’t been that bad for the past three months. I just hope that continues. Some high-end properties are start-ing to move now. One problem is that appraisals are coming in for less than the contract price. I think we have leveled out on home prices. Properties list-ed today are priced right and …

By Thomas Harding
By now you have heard the good news I’m sure. The $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers has been extended and the government has created a new tax credit for people who already own a home (for at least five years) for $6,500. Hallelujah! As a homeowner, lender, realtor, banker or contractor, you have got to just love the fact that the U.S. Government believes so strongly in real estate and the accumulation of private property.
We have already seen the impact of the initial tax credit. Figure …

 
ByThomas Harding
Always a man for statistics, I give you two pertinent facts. First, the number of residential homes that have sold in Jefferson County was up to 69 in September 2009. This is a big step forward from the depressing early months of the year (see figure 1) when monthly sales dipped to 21 in long dark nights of January. The strongest part of the market are homes priced in the $100,000 to $250,000 range, where multiple-bid offers have become common, a situation not seen since the heyday of 2005.
 
 
Figure …

By Thomas Harding
It appears that some in the state government are beginning to recognize that there is a foreclosure crisis in the Eastern Panhandle, but there are many who continue to keep their head in the sand and are committed to doing little or nothing about the massive devaluation of home values in the area.
During a visit to Martinsburg on 8 September, The Observer asked Governor Joe Manchin about the foreclosure crisis in the Eastern Panhandle, and specifically, why the county assessors were not including foreclosures in their appraisals. The Governor …

By Thomas Harding
Okay, so you want to know: are things getting better? As ever, I strive for the simple answer, and that answer is YES-ish.
Things are getting better, for real. Look at the table accompanying this article. As you can see, the number of residential sales in Jefferson County has remained steady compared to the same time last year. But what has changed significantly is the average sale price, which dropped a colossal 24 percent from $286,473 in July 2008 to $216,247 this year.
 
Figure 1: Homes sold in Jefferson County, …

Okay, so you want to know, are things getting better. As ever, I strive for the simple answer, and that answer is YES (ish).
 Things are getting better, for real. Look at Figure 1, below. As you can see the number of residential sales in Jefferson County has remained steady compared to the same time last year, but what has changed significantly is the average sale price, dropping a colossal 24% from $286,473 in July 2008, to $216,247 this year. 
So why am I so upbeat? Because we already knew prices had …