Well well well.  Truth of the matter is, I have no idea what the market is doing!  But that’s okay, we’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. 

Last month, I was excited to see that the summer buying season had officially kicked in.  Sellers were seeing more activity, and buyers were looking at everything under the sun.  I’ve been saying for some time now that as the market has adjusted, we’ve been working with many more buyers than sellers and that’s certainly reflected in August’s numbers.  At the NRVLiving Group we are working with far more buyers than we are sellers, and those buyers have the pick of the best listings.  It’s awesome, one of the best times to buy I’ve seen in the last several years.  Look at the chart – average time on the market as a whole is 7.27 months (last month was 7.30 months so it’s a wash), which is ranging from 4 months in Blacksburg to as much as 12.4 months in Montgomery County!  Typically, areas like Floyd and Giles and Pulaski are lagging behind, but this month Pulaski is pulling 3.6 months – very much a seller’s market there right now, and I have no idea why.  Again, we’re looking at how long it would take to sell the existing residential inventory in a particular area, if nothing else came on the market until supply was exhausted.  Anything over 5 months is typically a buyers’ market, and anything less than 5 months is typically a seller’s market.

Watch the mortgage industry over the next few months.  It’s important to remember – the shake-up we’re seeing is primarily NOT among reputable lenders like Bank of America, ABN-AMRO and Wells Fargo (all lenders that our recommended mortgage brokers use).  Instead, it’s among Fly By Night shops like Lend2U.com and ShakeYourPockets.ca … I made those up of course, but check out the Implode-O-Meter for a complete list of firms going out of business, or that have already closed up shop.  The vast majority of these were funding subprime or no credit/no problem loans and it’s caught up with them!  Conventional loan products are STILL the best, don’t overlook them!  If you don’t know what kind of loan you have, feel free to call me and my team at (540) 552-6500 or email me and we can help you find out!  If you’d like more specific data about this report, or anything else pertaining to real estate in the New River Valley, don’t hesitate to contact us by email or Instant Messenger!