Weekend Update

The market over the past week and weekend continues to favor the distressed properties as most of the transactions initiated and completed were either short sales or foreclosures.

The buyer activity - i.e. buyers walking through open houses, pursuing homes - has increased and is busy after the start of the new year.

It is my feeling that the end consumer has started to believe that if we are not at the bottom of the market, then the bottom is close. People are starting to re-learn the market, starting to evaluate product and the general feeling is that "the worst is behind them."

However, that sentiment has not translated into a flurry of purchase activity, except for the low-hanging fruit on the pricing scale - i.e. inventory under the $500K mark. There are still more buyers sitting on the sidelines than actually writing contracts but that too is evolving as consumers become more comfortable with housing forecasts.

Interest rates on loans did very well last week and actually dipped below 5%.