What market is this?

Depending on who you are talking to, you will get different answers. Some will tell you the market will go down another 10%, while others will tell you it's been bottomed. Today the UT said "Default notices hit record in county", and "Apartment rents fall; vacancies are rising". On the other hand, News 8 reported yesterday that a home in North Park received more than 80 offers.

While agencies like DataQuick are having objective numbers, they might not truly reflect areas of the market. What I see is that some bank owned properties seem to be priced particularly low to attract traffic, and the buyers bid up to market value supported by comparables. The banks want to make sure the properties would be sold. A property in my office was listed for $395,000, although our agent wanted to list it somewhere between $420,000 and $450,000. The agent received an offer in the first day, and eventually received 16 offers, all well over the asking price. I helped hold the open house (wouldn't even need it since the agent had 6 offers in writing before the open house, and 4 were coming), the traffic was non-stop for 3 hours. Some came by after 4 to look at the house, while others came by to look at the house one more time, after submitting their offers.

I can't tell you if this is a good time to buy, because it depends on your personal financial situation more than anything else. Since the stimulus package came out last month, we have seen a lot more people out looking at properties. If your financial sitation is stable, and you are considering, it is a great time to buy, particularly if you are purchasing for the first time.

If you are a first-time buyer, you will get $8,000 or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less, refundable tax credit from the federal government this year. You have until December 1 to make the purchase. I think that's the reason many buyers are out looking at open houses.

On a side note, if you are considering buying a short-sale property and want to qualify for the tax credit, you need to start your purchase process soon because although short-sales are moving along much faster now, it still typically takes about 3 months to go through the bank approval. Keep that in mind when you are purchasing.