Market Statistics for the month of December 2009 for Moses Lake

I don’t know about what you did for Christmas but I spent mine with clients.  It’s not because I was trying to show you up or anything. It’s not because I wanted to be able to say “hey I work harder then you.”  Nope none of those are the reasons.  It was just plain because I wanted to!

We closed on this cute little house of my single mother client on the 18th of this month.  Her children were then going to spend winter break with their Father.  I was going to be without my children as well, so instead of mourning that fact we had a “girls day.”  Wine flowed freely and friendships were made that day. 

I would have to say that it was probably the best Christmas I had.  No Drama, no cooking, no gifts!  I loved it and I hope we can do it again soon!

                                                    New Years Eve Party 2010
                                                                                    Larson Rec Center
                                                                     Only $10.00 for the whole evening
                                                                          Grades 6-12 Time 9p.m.-1a.m.

                                                             Sign up at Parks & Rec or the Larson Rec Center
                                                                                    Parent Waiver Required
                                                                                              509-764-6316
                                                                              Registration Deadline Dec 28th

                                                    New Years Eve Party 2010
                                                                                    Larson Rec Center
                                                                     Only $10.00 for the whole evening
                                                                          Grades 6-12 Time 9p.m.-1a.m.

                                                             Sign up at Parks & Rec or the Larson Rec Center
                                                                                    Parent Waiver Required
                                                                                              509-764-6316
                                                                              Registration Deadline Dec 28th

If you are looking for ways to help your neighborhood become just all around more friendly I found a great place to go that will give you fantastic ideas on doing just such a thing.

Houselogic.com is a great new website driven towards consumers with a wealth of information on anything you could think of.  In the Community Concerns section it will give you ideas to help you motivate the community feeling in the neighborhood.  Do you want a playground in your neighborhood?  Well it gives you ideas for that too!

Check it out and find all those things that you wanted to do but didn’t know how to start.  And while you’re there click through the site to find all the other information that they have that will be of great help to you.  It’s a fantastic website that I think is going to be of great help to everyone that uses it!

If you are looking for ways to help your neighborhood become just all around more friendly I found a great place to go that will give you fantastic ideas on doing just such a thing.

Houselogic.com is a great new website driven towards consumers with a wealth of information on anything you could think of.  In the Community Concerns section it will give you ideas to help you motivate the community feeling in the neighborhood.  Do you want a playground in your neighborhood?  Well it gives you ideas for that too!

Check it out and find all those things that you wanted to do but didn’t know how to start.  And while you’re there click through the site to find all the other information that they have that will be of great help to you.  It’s a fantastic website that I think is going to be of great help to everyone that uses it!

I was very surprised to see the statistics that the number of first-time home buyers rose to 47 percent of all home sales from 41 percent of transactions in last year’s study, and was the highest on record dating back to 1981.  Moving from the previous high of 44% set in 1991.

With these first time home buyers they also ended up buying houses in the median price range of $156,000 down $10,000 from the year previous.  Most of those first timers financed their home with FHA financing which seems to be the norm nowadays.  With conventional financing requiring more down, the FHA option that only requires 3.5% down is an attractive option to buyers who haven’t padded the nest egg to pay for the down payment

the first time home buyers that actually came up with the down payment used a variety of sources 61% used their own savings accounts, 22% received a gift from a friend or relative, 6% got a loan from a friend or a relative, 6% tapped into their stocks and bonds, and another 6% tapped into their 401 K.  The glaring positive in this is that 96% of consumers chose the fixed-rate mortgage. NO MORE ARM’s!!

These home purchases did not come with out sacrifices on their part whether it be cutting back on expenses, selling off “toys,” and spending less on clothing.  I think these are all things we have to expect to do when making one of the largest investments that we will make in our lives.

The median down payment on houses was 8%, and the number of buyers purchasing homes with no money down fell from 23% in 2008 to only 15% currently.  It seems we all may be learning our lesson and trying to use our money more responsibly.  I hope this only continues to help the process, and our economy recover from mismanagement of finances on a global level.

For more information on this article from NAR

December Family Free

December 5, 2009
Moses Lake

Description:
Visit MAC anytime between the hours of 12 noon and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 5 and create your own holiday ornament.

Location:
Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
228 West Third Ave.
Moses Lake, WA 98837

Admission:
FREE

Other Information:
A free family art activity open to all ages on a first come, first serve basis.

Contact Information:
Contact: Ann Golden
Web site: www.mlrec.com/museum.html
Email: agolden@ci.moses-lake.wa.us
Phone: 509-766-9395

It looks like the last month has slowed down for us in pendings.  We had more pendings last year in the month of November then we do this year.  So is the First Time Homebuyer Credit working for us? 

It definately has impacted the solds as you see there were more sold in the month of November this year then last year at this time. 

With 367 active listings at this time there is tons to choose from! 

December always ends up being a pretty slow month for activity with everyone gearing up for the New Year.  It is always a great time to start getting your house ready to sell if you are going to list in the New Year. 

Don’t forget to get the advice of a professional Realtor on what you can do to make your house more sellible we are always here to help!

Where has all my time gone?