Market Watch
Residential closed transactions in April declined slightly from March but pended transactions increased from March to April. I expect closed transactions to increase slightly over the next few months and still believe that the second half of 2011 will be significantly better than the second half of 2010.
The primary factors influencing sales over the next few months will be interest rates, shadow inventory and general economic conditions with particular emphasis on employment. Although I still believe interest rates will increase, I do not expect any significant increase for several months, maybe not until 2012. Shadow inventory, which consists of foreclosed, or seriously delinquent mortgage loans continue to decline. The National Association of Realtors has forecasted a 1.8% decline in median home prices nationwide for 2011, however locally our prices are up over 2% for the first four months of this year compared to last year. This is another sign that our prices had already stabilized last year.
The national economy continues to grow at a relatively slow rate (only a 1.8% pace during the first quarter of this year), the bad news. But, our local employment data suggests we are doing better than the nation as a whole, the good news. While national unemployment is still at 9.0% locally our rate is 7.5%. What is more encouraging is the actual number of workers who are gainfully employed. The nine county regions in southwest Indiana had 167,034 employed people as of March compared to 160,420 last March. This year’s figures are after the loss of 1,100 Whirlpool workers last summer. These employment numbers coupled with the stabilization of home prices, give me cause to be optimistic about our local housing market.
Please try TuckerMobile.com on your smart phone next time you want to learn about the house you just drove by. Just click “Find Properties Near Me” for properties details and photos on any listing in our MLS. Although I want to be your ultimate resource TuckerMobile.com can help you get immediate answers and save you some time.
Kathy and I are very excited about our new site at www.EvansvilleRealEstate.info. We hope you will enjoy the articles and perhaps even take time to reply to us if there are any questions you have about real estate or Evansville. You can reach me at 812-499-9234 or at Rolando@TheTrentiniTeam.com
Rolando & Kathy Trentini
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