COMPELLING AFFORDABILITY

   I guess it's the human condition - buyers always want to wait until "the market hits bottom" before taking that big step of making an offer.  To a person, every real estate expert I've ever heard says the problem with that thinking is that you never know you've hit bottom until the prices are already going up. 

   Right now, though, we are seeing an amazing opportunity for buyers whether it's the bottom or not.  With home prices at their lowest in years and interest rates at historic lows the affordability factor is remarkable.

     NAR economists predict that the interest rate will be close to 6% in 2012.  You don't have to be a mathematician to see how quickly a rising interest rate would make a significant difference in the monthly carrying cost.

   At the current interest rate of 4.375 a mortgage of $400,000 will result in a monthly payment of $1,852.  By the time the interest rate moves to the 5.9% predicted that same loan will cost $2,372.  Wouldn't you rather be saving that $500/month or even spending it on a little more house?  At today's rate $2,372 will pay for a $500,000 mortgage (with a little left over!)


How about that - you can buy $500,000 worth of mortgage today for the same monthly payment as a $400,000 mortgage in 2 years.

Think about it.

 

Positive Sales Statistics from the Berkshire Board of Realtors

In a report issued today, the Berkshire County Board of Realtors states that year over year data (year to date 2010 compared to the same time period in 2009) shows improvement in all areas measured and in all parts of the Berkshires.  In South Berkshire the notable numbers are:
    
Number of properties sold has increased by 18% from 226 to 268


Total value of properties sold has increased by a very impressive 28% from $83 million to $107 million with the average sale price up 8% from $369,583 to $399,476. 


These increasing signs of stability and growth in our market are encouraging and reinforce what we are seeing on a day to day basis in our own office.

Possible Rail Service to the Berkshires from NYC

The Berkshire Eagle reports that the Housatonic Railroad Company is considering the creation of passenger service from New York City through northwest Connecticut to the Berkshires.  Possible stops would include the existing stations in Pittsfield, Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington and a new station near Sheffield.  All in it's early stage of planning with lots of unknowns at this point but it's interesting to think about.  Read the full article from the Berkshire Eagle:

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_16358701?IADID=Search-www.berkshireeagle.com-www.berkshireeagle.com

Any thoughts?  Would this be a service you'd find valuable?

New listing in Lenox

This very sweet cape is perfectly located to take advantage of all the world class activities the Berkshires have to offer. See all the details at http://www.stonehouseproperties.com/226OldStockbridge/index.html

Hang in there, please. We're working on this.

As a way of better serving buyers and sellers of real estate in Berkshire County, Stone House Properties, LLC is starting this blog.  On it you will find articles of interest about the Berkshires, links to lots of interesting and useful Berkshire activities and resources and, of course, a first look at our new listings and all the updates about existing listings.

It's going to take a little bit to get familiar with this and figure out all the details but, once we do I promise you're going to be taking a look every chance you get.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and sharing ours.

Suzanne