Stimulus package and Montana real estate

With the new package released this week, I am happy to see that at least the $8000 first time home buyers credit made it. I was really hoping for the $15,000 credit to all primary homebuyers, as proposed by a bill, as that would have had a major impact on home sales. However, the $8000 credit for first timers should really get the ball rolling for those homebuyers who have been on the fence. This credit does not have to be paid back if you keep the home for at least three years, and is for anyone who has not owned a home for at least three years. The rates are looking better every day and even though there has been some tightening of the qualification requirements, FHA still offers loans with as little as 3 1/4% down! Here in Helena home sales are still holding their own with about 60 homes under contract as of this week. One of my appraiser friends just stopped by and said that they are really busy, and that is usually a pretty good indicator of the overall market activity.

My guilty pleasure lately has been searching for homes on Realtor.com in Florida and Las Vegas. Amazing what your dollar now buys you there....Homes that sold for about 350K in 2006 are now selling for 200K and less. Opportunities galore for anyone who missed the boat a few years ago; unfortunately at the expense of a lot of homeowners there.

It is snowing here today, and one of those 200K waterfront homes in Orlando is sounding pretty good right now.....

2009 Economic forecasts for Montana

While attending the annual Economic Forum in Helena last week, it occurred to me what Economists and Meteorologists have in common: they are both trying to accurately predict a mostly unpredictable system. One unforeseen element enters the picture, whether it be a fast moving, upper level disturbance or gasoline prices reaching $4 per gallon, and there goes their whole meticulously laid out forecast.
The presenters at this year's forum, all highly respected professionals in their field, very sheepishly tried to explain why their predictions for last year were so far off their mark (high gas prices reduced tourism by about 20%!), and what effect it has for this year. The good news for us in Montana was, that we were not nearly as affected by the economic downturn as the rest of the country, as most of our state's economy is based on agriculture, oil and gas, and mining. And we know how well those industries did last year. Unfortunately even Montana will feel the pinch this year according to the speakers and they expect the bottom to hit around late summer. As for real estate, the biggest hit of course is the drop in new construction and that also drives our unemployment rate which for the first time in several years is now above 3%, at 5.9% to be exact. I know, other states would be happy to have that number as their figure, but for us that is almost a doubling of the unemployment numbers.

The good news is that the median home prices in several areas in Montana have actually gone up a bit, even though home sales are down.

Now the REAL good news: "Housing Predictor" a national online real estate research firm has ranked 5 Montana cities in the top 25 housing markets for 2009!!! They are: #2 Billings, #8 Bozeman, #12 Great Falls, #13 Livingston and #15 Missoula. Sounds like Montana is the place to be in 2009! (Or any other time for that matter ).

So, if you are in need for a little good news, come and see us in Montana!