ALASKA BOOMERANG BUYERS ARE TAKING AIM AT THE HOUSING MARKET

Alaska Boomerang Buyers will be taking aim at the housing market over the next 2-3 years and if you aren't familiar with the term, you will soon start to hearing more and more about it.  The impact of the Boomerang Buyer is we are seeing a strong Seller's market here in the Mat-Su Valley and the inventory supplies are low in the most popular price ranges.  

For current information on homes for sale in the Mat-Su please click Mat-Su Homes for Sale or if you would like to find out how the Boomerang Buyers entering back into the market can impact your home's value, Click Here and fill out a short form.

A "Boomerang Buyer" is someone that has lost a home through the foreclosure process or other credit damaging event, and is working on repairing their credit (and in many cases already has) and wants back in to the home ownership arena.  The following illustration is from AfterForeclosure.com and highlights where we are currently at in the recovery process for those buyers and is an absolute bright spot for the real estate market in the coming years.  

There is also a very informative article on their webpage that you can read here 2014 Needs the Boomerang Buyer.  

Why do we at Alaska Home Sellers feel that it is especially applicable here?  We have seen an influx of in-migration into the state over the last few years as the employment opportunities here are greater than where they are moving from.  Many of the residents that have moved here over the last 3-5 years did so to seek a better financial environment, but due to the financial hardship where they were at either have a foreclosure, a short sale, or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and have been forced to rent once they arrived here.  

For many of our new arrivals, they fit the above illustration to a "T" and we are already starting to see evidence of them coming back into the housing market.  Something that the illustration doesn't address is how they will view the current interest rates.  Don't think for one minute that it went under their radar when interest rates were around 3% a year ago!  But for many, they were helpless to do anything due to the prior blip on their credit.  If you also think back to where we were at in 2006 when the housing market started it's collapse, interest rates were around 6.5%.  At 6.5%, it was still well below the 40 year average, but yet it's nearly 50% higher than where they are at today.  The following graph represents a snap shot of mortgage interest rates dating back to 1971 from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey and compiled by www.calculatedriskblog.com.

What does all of this all mean?  

We are convinced that not only did we see a substantial increase in the number of transactions last year in the Matsu Real Estate Market, but it was also combined with a healthy 2% increase in average pricing.  We feel that as the Boomerang Buyers continue to gain financial traction, that they will put even further downward pressure on the declining inventory levels locally, creating an even larger increase in pricing in 2014.  

We also know that there are buyers that opted out last year thinking that mortgage interest rates were going to stay around where they were, and hoped they might even go lower.  But that have now realized that the "Mortgage Interest Rate Horse" is out of the barn and may be nearly impossible to put back in.

You can obtain real estate market information on the various communities in the Matsu Valley in Alaska by visiting this link Wasilla, Alaska Housing Market Insider Data.  Based on the last quarter of 2013, it appears that the trend is clearly toward higher pricing in 2014 as you can see by the illustration below.  Once there you can enter other zip codes in Alaska that you would like to obtain similar data on as well.

We see some definite trends starting to emerge as we hit the 2014 season and welcome you to come back to gain valuable local information presented in a logical format that you can use to determine what the best options are for you.

For current information on homes for sale in the Matsu please click Matsu Homes for Sale or if you would like to find out how the Boomerang Buyers entering back into the market can impact your home's value, click here and fill out a short form.

You can visit our website at Alaska Home Sellers or call our office at (907)352-1828 to privately discuss your real estate goals.

   

TO SELL...OR NOT TO SELL...THAT IS THE QUESTION

To sell...or not to sell...that is the question.  There hasn't been a period in my 20+ year history as a real estate broker where potential selling clients ask that question more then they have in the last 2-3 years.  Not necessarily in the 'Shakespearean' sense, but some variation of it.

In today's world it's not uncommon to find 2 completely opposite, contradictory opinions on the state of the real estate market on the same day, and in the same newspaper or news program.  And when that happens, the resulting effect is mass confusion for anyone that is thinking of buying or selling.  The following illustration from CoreLogic is a good example of it.  Reading the left hand side might lead one to believe that the current real estate market is pretty dire.  But if you continue onto the right side, it starts to look better on the top half.  But it isn't until you get to the bottom right hand corner, that you see that there is only one state ahead of Alaska as it relates to the number of homes with the highest percentage of having some equity...meaning that the home is worth more today than what is owed against it.

Sherri and I view our roles a little different than many others in the industry in that rather than putting a 'hard sell' on a customer to buy something, right now, today, our approach is more like an adviser rather than a pushy real estate agent.  We believe that while it is important for a client to know and fully understand what is happening in the local real estate market, it's when we then combine that knowledge with an overview as to what is happening in the national and world wide financial worlds, teamed with the local and statewide economic forecasts, that all of these factors have a cumulative impact on the client's decision making process. 

In case you might have missed it, the stock markets have blossomed since the crash in 2008 and the DOW has hit new record levels multiple times over the last year.  Many of the reports of the real estate market over the last few years have often been portrayed it in a negative light.  But the following graph from MSN Money.com and Case Shiller, illustrates how it has fared relative to the stock markets over the last 13 years.

And the National Association of REALTORS® recently produced a graph illustrating what they are projecting for the coming year.  

 

Because there are literally countless real estate websites that have information on homes for sale, it becomes completely overwhelming for most consumers.  That's why we focus on providing advice and counsel for the really big questions that our clients have that aren't so easily found on-line.   

We've found what most clients really want is someone who can...

1.  Analyze all the available information

2.  Connect the dots and let them know if now is a good time to buy or the right time to sell based    on their goals

3.  Take the time to explain their options—simply and effectively
 
Our approach is actually quite simple.  Overall, information being readily available (without context or understanding) causes confusion...and that’s when people seek out professionals. Whether it be a doctor, lawyer, or a real estate professional, for a thorough analysis of the information based on their unique situation.  Because of the wealth of information available, we believe people are yearning for expert advice...tailored to their individual needs and goals, and not some canned "cookie-cutter" reply.
 
If you feel this type of information is valuable, make sure to subscribe to our blog and keep checking back as we will be posting much more over the coming weeks as we head into the busiest season of the year.  For more, you can visit our website at Alaska Home Sellers, "like" our Facebook page here, or simply call our office at (907)352-1828.


Let us know what your "big" questions are...we're here to help. 

FASCINATING PERSPECTIVE ON HOME PRICES

I came across a fascinating perspective on home prices today and when they were set side by side, certainly illustrate an explanation as to why the price of housing is doing what it's doing.











There is clearly a connection between the rebound in home prices relative to the amount of distressed homes that are for sale.  As one goes up, the other comes down.  Distressed homes include Real Estate Owned (REO), foreclosure, and short sale homes.  And it makes perfect sense when you see it laid out like this.  

On our website Alaska Home Sellers, one of the most searched terms is "foreclosure".  While the percentage of these in our market is relatively small, they certainly attract attention.  And as the real estate market stabilizes, the numbers of them become fewer and fewer.  As there becomes fewer and fewer of them, a buyer's choice of available inventory becomes less, fueling even more price appreciation on the remaining inventory.  More appreciation means fewer home owners are faced with an "upside down" house, meaning that they transition out of owing more on the home than it's worth, and if they need to sell, are no longer considered "distressed" and can go to closing without having to write a check for the balance.

For those buyers that are interested in the available inventory of foreclosed homes in Wasilla or Palmer, Alaska we have created a link to them Here.  This list is a direct feed out of the Alaska MLS and is updated multiple times each day.

If you are a homeowner and have been sitting on the fence wondering if the local market has recovered enough to consider selling, now may be the time.  If you would like to find out a rough idea as to what your home is worth in today's appreciating real estate market, fill out this short form to find out, or simply call our office at (907)352-1828 to privately discuss it.

You can also "Like" us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AKhomesellers to keep an eye on the real estate market in the Matsu Valley of Alaska.