Window of Opportunity

As anyone who's ever tried to sell a house will tell you, bad weather can definitely affect your ability to sell a home. If the weather is terrible, nobody comes out to shop, nobody makes offers, and sales numbers fizzle.

Well, we've just witnessed the "bad weather" impact on a national scale. After three straight months of steadily rising home sales nationwide, the stretch of stormy and frigid weather that hit many parts of the country in the early Spring took a chunk out of home sales numbers for the month -- they were down by 8.4 percent.

The chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, Dr. David Lereah, said the sharp decline was not a total surprise. "For months," he said, "we've been expecting a weather 'hit' on home sales" -- and it finally arrived with a solid punch.

But a patch of bad weather alone is not going to knock real estate out of its ongoing recovery pattern. Dr. Lereah points out that the key underlying economic fundamentals for home sales continue to be strongly favorable.

The weather related decrease in sales, he says, "is masking improved fundamentals in the housing market, with lower mortgage interest rates and motivated sellers" -- plus vigorous employment growth and low core inflation rates.

Mortgage rates continue to hover just above 6 percent for 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgages, according to Freddie Mac, and slightly below that for 15-year rates.

Rates are actually lower this Spring than they were a year ago, and they remain less than a point above all time lows.

Prices in most local markets are relatively stable, even down a little in some areas -- which means the ball is very much in the buyers' court.

More houses are available, there's less pressure to make decisions on the spot, and there's no question: Sellers are more open to reasonable offers, and are prepared to negotiate and even throw in some extras to move the deal-like helping out on closing costs.

So think of the next month or so as a window of opportunity -- a window that won't stay open forever.

Forget the negative news about the weather. Now's the time for serious buyers to get out. The weather is definitely more cooperativeand and look at the many seriously well priced homes that are now on the market.

With sales rebounding in the weeks ahead, those houses won't be around forever.


Written by Kenneth R. Harney