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Like the rest of the nation, we saw a dip in Rutherford County’s housing market last year, but the feel among Realtors is that the market is coming back. An article in today’s Daily News Journal, a daily newspaper based in Murfreesboro, confirms the perception of agents.
Across the nation, existing home prices have declined more than 10 percent, according to Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. The drop represents the steepest decline since the organization’s 1988 data.
However, prices are up in Rutherford County, according to Roberts. Numbers from MTAR show the average sale price was $183,511 in February of this year compared to $180,564 in February 2007.
The national market is hinting at a recovery… our local market is already in one!
Your neighbors were great. They moved two or three years ago into the house next door that’s nearly identical to your own. They kept the lawn mowed, their dog didn’t bark too much, and they once loaned you a router to edge the new table you built. However, you learned they had some financial troubles when their mortgage jumped about $400 a month. Normally they could’ve handle the added expense, but gas prices also increased their monthly expenses by another $100 and grocery prices rose as well.
Your neighbors lost their home to foreclosure. The lender just wants enough money to pay off most of the loan regardless of what it’s worth. The house could go for $150,000, but the bank sold it for $125,00 just to get rid of it. When all is said and done, you lost your good neighbors. But you also lost 16% in your home’s value. After several years – if you stay in your home - the value will return. However, if you plan to move soon, you won’t get as much for your house as you would’ve a year ago.
According to MSNBC, foreclosures definitely hurt the neighbors.
In a study of foreclosures in Chicago in the late 1990s, Georgia Tech associate professor Dan Immergluck found that each foreclosure on an urban block lowered property values by an average of nearly 1 percent, and about 1.4 percent in low-income neighborhoods.
The silver lining is that if you sell and move to a new house, you should be able to recover the value of the home you’re selling through the savings of the one you’ll buy.
Reprinted with permission:
I’ve been reading my latest edition of U.S. News & World Report and besides politics, crime, the war, etc., I found an interview with Bill Gross, the founder of one of America’s largest bond funds management companies. His answers to questions about the housing industry were very interesting and make me even more curious about what is being discussed in the backrooms of Washington, D.C.
Mr. Gross addresses how to stop the decline in home prices and said monitory policy can help homeowners with ARM mortgages, but says it doesn’t really help people trying to sell – just those trying to buy. This is because lowering interest rates may have a short-term impact, but 30-year mortgages haven’t come down like the fed funds rate.
Mr. Gross believes it necessary for the goverment to essentially subsidize mortgages, not in a ridiculous way, but for people who have demonstrated good credit and are willing to pay on time. As far as the expense of such a program, it wouldn’t be nearly as expensive as the $150 billion stimulus package that has just passed.
“We need the FHA to provide mortgages with, as least in my opinion, a subsidized interest rate. … [for] a government agency is overseeing the list of buyers as opposed to “greedy loan originators that just ran it for a fee.”
Mr. Gross also said,
“If your house is down 20 percent, you’re not in a rosy disposition to spend money anywhere. You think you’re getting poorer by the secodn. We have to avoid that.”
Read the entire Q&A article in U.S. News and World Report here.
I went early this morning to vote. I want to say that I was lucky there was no line, but I’d really prefer seeing more people out taking advantage of their Constitutional right to vote. I don’t understand why we as Americans don’t take the time to go vote. If you’d like more information about where to go, follow this link from Music City Bloggers.
If you want to vote, but don’t have your voter registration card, a drivers’ license will do along with (maybe) a second form of identification (utility bill in your name, for example).
I don’t want to harp on this, but when we Americans show up to vote and 30% is a big turnout, remember you get what you pay for. People in foreign countries literally risk their lives for the opportunity to vote, so why don’t we take it as seriously as they do? Get out and vote! Your vote DOES count!
According to the October 1, 2007 US News & World Report, Smyrna, Tennessee is one of ten best places to retire in the U.S.! According to the magazine, the ten picks were narrowed down from 2,000 original places named that had a population above 15,000. Then using criteria such as cost of living, climate, crime rate, available healthcare, education, and more, the editors whittled the list to 1,000. From there, the editors named their top 10 picks – cities that included San Francsico, California; Bozeman, Montana; Venice, Florida; and Smyrna, Tennessee (my personal favorite!).
Some of the features of Smyrna that were highlighted by US News & World Report are obvious: 10 parks, a public golf course, 7 miles of greenways, great temperatures, easy access to the lights and sounds of Nashville, and a small-town atmosphere with 33,497 people.
What they don’t say is that although Smyrna is a fantastic place to retire, it is also a great place for families. We have the top high school football team in the state! Families flock to the area for great schools. Median home prices are less than $150,000 — very affordable. In addition, Smyrna is located in Rutherford County which has had top job growth in the nation for two or three years now. The recreation in this area is amazing – we have the huge J. Percy Priest Lake* at our back door with lots of fishing spots, boating, water skiing, camping, and more!
And let’s not forget in just 25 minutes, we can be in downtown Nashville going to a symphony, ballet, or honky tonk!
On another note, on the Today Show this morning, Tennessee was named second as a great place to see Fall foliage. Tennessee is truly one of the most beautiful states I’ve had the privilege of seeing – and I’ve been to ALL but three states! If you, your family, or acquaintances want to get to know Smyrna, Tennessee better, I will be more than pleased to be your personal guide!
*Pictured in article.
Photo below: Children enjoy sitting in a helicopter at the Rotary Club’s Annual Fish Fry held at the Smyrna Airport (the former airfield of Sewart Air Force Base).
Marina on Percy Priest Lake.
