By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Local home sales slower, but 'not dead'
749a.jpg
Times photo: Brenda Steurer Local Realtors say the Green County housing market is largely removed from the grim national outlook for sales.
MONROE - If it's priced right, it will sell.

That's the analysis local real estate agents give of the Green County housing scene. While the housing market across the country is being characterized as anywhere from lackluster to stagnant, properties locally are still moving, they say.

The market is, however, price sensitive, explained Keith Kischer, owner of WHY USA Kischer Realty in Monroe.

"Anything that's competitively priced will sell," he said. "If it's overpriced, it's going to sit."

It's a buyer's market, agreed June Wright, an agent with Century 21 Zwygart Realty in Monroe. But people interested in selling their homes will have success "if sellers do as we recommend and list their properties at what they are going to sell for."

Anyone who is "fishing" for a higher than market-value selling price on their home is bound to be disappointed, she said.

"It doesn't happen right now," Wright said.

The national outlook for the real estate market is fairly grim, with a high foreclosure rate and fears of an impending recession blamed for slowing home sales and housing starts. National reports of a housing slump include metropolitan areas that have been hit with high foreclosure rates and plummeting home values.

Green County is largely removed from those highs and lows, agents said.

"Green County is very steady," said Scott Larson with RE/MAX Towne Square Realty in Monroe.

"It's not dead," Wright said, noting the local market is "a little slower than last year at this time."

The holiday season is traditionally a slow time in real estate before picking up again after the new year.

"January is really the beginning of the season. By February, things are usually rolling pretty well," Wright said.

Cold and snowy weather have been problems and may be keeping some people from looking for homes.

Larson concurred that weather has been more of an issue the past few weeks. Still, "our office has actually been very active," he said, adding sales have been off just slightly, but nothing dramatic.

"Sales have been very good for the last several months," Larson said.

He agreed that pricing a home correctly is the key to selling. That price needs to be determined by analyzing what houses are on the market and what they are selling for.

"If a real estate agent has really done their homework, they will have a price that will move the house," he said.

Kischer said January was a good month for his firm. Sales of vacant land, for building and recreation, have been brisk, as have sales of farm land and homes.

Wright said new listings are coming in and properties are moving. Land is still selling well, she added.

In addition to pricing a home right, the market now requires a little more work to get a home sold, Larson said. That means using different adverting vehicles beyond the county, such as publications in northern Illinois or the Chicago area.

The Internet has also become a major player in the real estate business, he said. Some 80 percent of buyers now report using the Internet when looking for a house.

Low interest rates should help create some movement in the local market, Wright said.

On Thursday, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.68 percent, up from last week's rate of 5.48. That had been the lowest level for 30-year mortgages in nearly four years. Even with the slight increase, mortgage rates in this range are expected to help breathe life into the housing market. Historically, mortgage rates below 7 or 8 percent are considered good.

Lower rates will help move "executive" homes, those at the high end of the pricing scale, Larson said. These homes may be just out of financial reach for some buyers, but a lower interest rate can make them feasible.

Wright, who has been selling real estate for 30 years, can remember days when the real estate market was truly depressed.

"Back in 1980, the interest rate was 18 percent," she said. "Talk about slow."

She paints a promising picture for 2008.

"I'm very optimistic about this coming year," she said.