REALTOR® Deb McFarland talks about the truth about the $8000 tax credit and the timing to take advantage of the credit in the Topeka real estate market. She also discusses when you can epect to get your tax credit and a quick update on the state of the real estate market in Topeka, Kansas.

An article appearing in the July 27 issue of The Title Report speaks to Topeka being one of five strongest housing markets for major metro areas among single family residences in the median price tier. The source of the statistic was Vero Real Estate Solutions, and the document was their quarterly annual forecast showing expectations from July through June 30, 2010. The predicted five strongest markets are Lubbock, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Waco TX; Topeka, KS and Springfield, MO. They project that markets already hit hard will stabilize over the next year.

The central part of the nation has thus far been largely unaffected by the rapid price appreciations that were seen in many other geographic areas. Consequently, this region is moving forward without distress from the depreciation felt elsewhere and is experiencing minor growth.

While our year to date sales are behind 2008 year to date we have seen an improvement over the past two months. Other indications of a strong market in Topeka are the days on market which is the same as 2008 and an increase in the average sales price of 3.2%.

There is still time to take advantage of the first-time homebuyers tax credit where qualified buyers can receive up to $8,000 towards the purchase of their home. Interested buyers should contact a local REALTOR® soon as properties must be bought and closed by November 30, 2009.

From the Veros website –(explains briefly how they do their forecasting):

“We’ve been releasing results over the past five years, in both up and down markets,” Darius Bozorgi, president and CEO for Veros explained, “and our models are consistently accurate in both. Our models forecast market swings and changes better than any product on the market.”

The forecasts, based upon the VeroFORECAST models, reflect projected market gains and declines for single family residences in most major metropolitan areas and some non-metro areas, reflecting 75 percent of the nation’s population. These forecasts are not based on a single variable. Veros applies more than 50 factors in its analytics to develop these trends, including interest and unemployment rates, inflation, current housing inventory and other economic and geographic factors. This contributes to making VeroFORECAST results the most accurate forecasts in residential real estate markets.

This article was posted in the Topeka Metro News this morning about the stability of the Topeka real estate market.

Local real estate market stable and holding its own
By Peggy Mooney – Metro News

Local real estate agents and representatives say that now is a great time to purchase a home.

Bryon Schlosser, Coldwell-Banker Griffith & Blair American Home chief executive officer, told The Topeka Metro News that there is a misunderstanding that homes are plummeting everywhere and that the housing market is bad, but in reality the Topeka area is stable and “holding its own.” Peter Lindner, an agent for Valley Real Estate, agrees with Schlosser that Topeka’s housing market is stable.

Lindner said that the local housing market picked up “dramatically” about mid-January and is very active.

“Actually, the Topeka real estate market in certain price ranges is good,” he said. “Up to about $150,000 to $160,000, the market is very good. As we start to get up in price range, though, it slows down considerably.

“Yes. In Topeka it is a very good time to buy a house. Interest rates are very favorable. And there are some good incentives for first-time homebuyers. And, the selection of homes available is good.” Lindner said for him personally, the time-period between last Thanksgiving and New Year’s was “inordinately” slow. He was worried.

Schlosser agreed, stating that the housing market in Topeka did experience a slow down in 2008, but despite the slowdown, homes sold quicker than they did in other parts of the country.

Jeanine Wells, Topeka Area Association of Realtors president, said that Topeka’s real estate sales were down about 17 percent for 2008.

“Our number of listings were down, so that means we didn’t sell as many (homes), but we didn’t have as many on the market,” she said. “We didn’t have as much activity, which was not surprising because of the economic times Š all businesses are down. We didn’t have a glut of inventory.” Wells said home sales are now picking up and looking better for the spring season. She added that a number of contracts are being written, which means that there will be a lot of closings coming up in March and April.

Lindner agrees, saying that after the New Year, he noticed an improvement in the Topeka market.

“As New Years’ came and went, the market picked up dramatically,” he said.

“In Topeka, we are fortunately isolated from some of the problems they are having in other parts of the country,” he said.

Schlosser is optimistic and predicts that Topeka’s housing market will continue to pick up this year, becoming more active as the year progresses.

“Our ups and downs are going to be based basically on people’s mental attitudes,” he said. “I think what we will see for the rest of the year will benefit from the pent-up demand that was created during the period of time last year when people were afraid of what might happen.” Several Topeka real estate agents report that they have already sold more houses this year than in the last three months of last year.

“We now have a buyer’s market,” Schlosser said. “Interest rates are very attractive. A person with good credit and able to make a reasonable down payment find a great opportunity.” Schlosser added that it is helpful to the housing market that there are loans available to qualified buyers. And, the fact that tax credits are available for those buyers makes the market even better, he said.

To let people know about available tax credits, Schlosser said that seminars are being offered on the first Monday of every month to inform prospective buyers about tax credits that are available.

Like Schlosser and Lindner, Wells is also optimistic about Topeka’s housing market.

“I believe things are picking up,” she said. “Open houses have been busy.

Our offices have been busy. It’s going to be a good spring.

“The thing to realize is that Topeka never really had big increases in sale prices, so we didn’t have a big bubble to burst. We are in better shape than the rest of the country.

“Fear is greater than financial incentive” is my favorite way to describe consumer behavior in uncertain times – including my own behavior. The “national media” covers the horror stories (that are true) from many housing markets in the country, because these are the stories that everyone wants to read. We are uncertain, so we don’t do anything at all.

The horror stories you read, however, have not been an issue in Topeka. We are so fortunate to live here because of our “boringly stable economy” as I have often described it over my real estate career. Yes, many of us have been affected by the economy; I am just describing the local housing market.

Today, the Topeka Capital-Journal published a good, factual article about the Topeka housing market. They obtained their information directly from the Topeka Area Association of REALTORS, for whom the President, Jeanine Wells, is the only official spokesperson. This adds such an element of credibility to the story – one doesn’t have to worry if it is simply someone’s opinion. That data is supported by the opinion of the Shawnee County Appraiser in another article.

The Topeka housing market, combined with the first-time homebuyer tax credit (of up to $8000) will only help the entire Topeka economy. $8000 is a significant amount of money, given the average price of homes in Topeka – and this is certain to have a trickle-up and trickle-out effect to everyone.

If you haven’t read the Topeka Capital-Journal’s Sunday paper article on housing, please take a moment to read it here: http://tinyurl.com/Topeka-Housing – it should make you feel very confident, whether you are wondering if it’s the time to buy, or if it’s the time to get your home on the market. The article about the Shawnee County appraiser is here: http://tinyurl.com/Appraiser-Info.

Everyday people tell me why now is not the right time to buy or sell a home. Once you see this video, I am sure you will see why now is a great time to buy or sell your home.

Remember, that the best way to understand what is happening in your neighborhood is to talk to a local REALTOR(r).

P.S. Homes are Affordable and Mortgages are Available in the Topeka Area!

Well, if you got dressed this morning (December 23, 2008) based on the California, Arizona or Florida weather forecast, you would be very cold.
Our temperatures were around ZERO, but in those states it was much warmer.
And if you are not selling or buying a home because of the dire reports of the housing market based on reports from those states, you might just as well be “out in the cold.”

Thirty year fixed rate mortgage costs have hovered around 5% per annum this month, so the opportunity to find a buyer for your home is greater than ever. Likewise, the monthly cost to own a home has rarely been less than right now.

So, what’s holding people back?

News stories report declining home prices, in some markets by as much as 25% since the bubble burst.
News stories report massive inventories of homes increased by bank owned foreclosure properties.
News stories report that there is a shortage of money to loan.

BUT IN OUR AREA OF KANSAS, none of these things is true. There were 1,217 single family homes listed for sale in the Multiple Listing Service of the Topeka Area Association of REALTORS(R) on November 30th. That is about 7.5% fewer homes than have been for sale on November 30 of the three prior years, and 11.2% fewer single family homes for sale than last year.

While the number of homes sold this year is down compared to the past few years, the Topeka are reports an average of 222 homes sold each month this year. That means that the 1,217 single family homes on the market only constitute a 5.5 month supply for buyers based on sales this year! That’s what most real estate professionals would classify as a “Sellers’ Market.”

So, what about values? Those 1,217 homes for sale on November 30 this year had an average asking price of $155,976, while the 1,370 homes on the market a year ago had an average asking price of $150,139. And, of the homes sold this year, the Multiple Listing Service data shows that the selling prices were about 97% of the asking price. So, this is not a bad market for sellers either.

Financing? If you have reasonable good credit scores, 97% FHA financing is still available as well as 15 and 30 year conventional financing from a host of honorable local lenders.

So, this is not the time to sit on the sidelines. In our area, it is a great time to sell and/or buy a home. Call one of our well-trained Coldwell Banker REALTORS(R) today and find out what is waiting for you. (And don’t forget if you haven’t owned a home for the past three years, you may qualify for up to a $7,500 interest free loan if you buy a home by June 30, 2009.)

Bryon R. Schlosser, CEO Griffith & Blair American Home Services

The National Association of REALTORS® published a map last week showing the median home price stats for various metro areas in the USA. More NAR home sale info including spreadsheets can be found here in printable PDF format.

The Topeka Area Association of REALTORS® report that our 2nd quarter 2008 median price was $119,000 for sold properties.

Zoom around and checkout the median prices of other cities compared to Topeka and I am sure you will find agree that Topeka’s homes are reasonably priced compared to many other communities.

View Larger Map

Realty Times recently published an article “10 Steps to Sell More Quickly in a Stalled Market.” We are fortunate in the Topeka area that our local housing market has held fairly steady over the years. We have not experienced the dramatic upswing, nor are we now “crashing” like other areas of the country.

Sales prices are holding steady — average sales price is down from $115,850(2007) to $112,500(2008) and average is only down 2.7% from $129,586to $126,034. So if you’re thinking of selling but are delaying because you’re concerned that you won’t get what your home is worth, values are holding in the Topeka market compared to many other cities who are down 25%-50%.

Using a Coldwell Banker Griffith & Blair agent who can get your property exposed to the widest pool of prospective buyers, combined with some of the tips from the Realty Times article and stable home values in our region, and sellers should be successful even in today’s market.

The NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) recently released a report comparing various markets to the entire United States. Excerpts from this report on the Topeka Area Metro Market Area makes us all realize how fortunate we are to live in this area of the country.

1 year Appreciation (2008 Q2)
Topeka -1.3% vs U.S. -7.1%

3 year Appreciation (2008 Q2)
Topeka +7.0% vs U.S. -5.6%

3-year Housing Equity Gain
Topeka +$7,200 vs U.S. -$12,333

Median Home Price To Income – Ratio for 2007
Topeka 3.2 vs U.S. 7.9 (Good Relative to Local History)

Median Home Price To Income – Historical Local Average
Topeka 3.3 vs U.S. 7.2 (Good Compared to National Average)