Real Estate Information

Thought you would be interested in the latest news on our current market conditions. While, we noticed more buyer activity with phone calls, email inquiries and increased showings on our listings during the month of January - the actual report of sales stayed the same as the previous month of December. We believe this is a positive sign of some stability in our Hot Springs market and we'll start to see the sales begin to rise again in the spring. We are also experiencing the normal trend with an increase in sellers placing their homes back on the market.  Click here for the detailed report.

The Clock is Ticking...
Extended and Expanded Tax Credit Expires 4/30/10

For prospective buyers who are on the fence about making a home purchase, the next few months represent a countdown of sorts as huge tax credits are about to expire. Here are important details for you to know:

Tax Credit for First-Time Home buyers
First-time home buyers may be eligible for the tax credit. The credit is 10% of the purchase price of the home, with a maximum available credit of $8,000. Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.

Tax Credit for Current Homeowners
The tax credit program now gives those who already own a residence some additional reasons to move to a new home. This incentive comes in the form of a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified purchasers who have owned and occupied a primary residence for a period of five consecutive years during the last eight years. Single taxpayers and married couples filing a joint return may qualify for the full tax credit amount.

What Are the New Deadlines?
In order to qualify for the credit, all contracts need to be in effect no later than April 30, 2010 and close no later than June 30, 2010. Those in the military do have some special extensions on the time lines available.

What's So Great About a "Tax Credit"?
The benefit of a tax credit is that it's a dollar-for-dollar benefit, rather than a "tax deduction", or reduction in a tax liability that would only save you $1,000 to $1,500 when all was said and done. So, if a first-time home buyer who qualified for the entire benefit were to owe $8,000 in income taxes and would qualify for a tax credit of $8,000, she would owe nothing.

Better still, the tax credit is refundable, which means the homebuyer can receive a check for the credit if he or she has little or no income tax liability. For example, if a first-time homebuyer is eligible for a tax credit of $8,000 but is liable for $4,000 in income tax, she can still receive a check for the remaining $4,000!

Higher Income Caps
The amount of income someone can earn and qualify for the full amount of the credit has been increased. Single tax filers who earn up to $125,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, single filers who earn $145,000 and above are ineligible. Joint filers who earn up to $225,000 are eligible for the total credit amount. Those who earn more than this cap can receive a partial credit. However, joint filers who earn $245,000 and above are ineligible.

Maximum Purchase Price
Qualifying buyers may purchase a property with a maximum sales price of $800,000.

It's also important to note another upcoming deadline as the Federal Reserve winds down a program that has been keeping home loan rates artificially low. The fact is that the lowest rates of 2009 were driven down to their attractive levels because of the Fed's Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) purchase program, which the Fed once again emphasized in its January 27, 2010 Rate and Policy Statement will end on March 31, 2010. As the Fed's program winds down and ends, rates could rise over time since MBS will have less support from the Fed.

If you have any questions regarding the tax credit, please pick up the phone and call us. We're here to help you take advantage of one of the greatest opportunities home buyers may ever have.

Hot Springs Market is Heating Up

A Winter Chill ... not just in temperatures, but also in home sales in Garland County has taken over for a while.  Click here for the full details on the latest market statistics for December, and take a look at the overall picture of home sales for our area over the last few months:

However, the good news is - The winter chill may be gone for now.  Buyer Activity has picked up significantly as of January 1, 2010.  As of the first of the year, we have been extremely busy, showing properties to qualified buyers in town, and many of our listings are getting increased showings from other Realtors.  The showings are ranging from $25,000 to $5,000,000, which is a wonderful sign (not just the low-end price for first-time home owners - which has been the norm for a while).  Buyer email inquiries are HOT, with many of the buyers that we've been working with for many months are now starting to say that "I may have my home sold, and I'm getting ready to move to Hot Springs now". 

While this sign is very encouraging, let's make sure that we don't take it for granted and sit back and relax.  Now's the time for sellers to get busy.  Think like a buyer -- spruce up your home and make sure you're prepared for a showing appointment at all times.  Best wishes for a wonderful 2010 from the Kennedy Team! 

In addition, we just reviewed the market statistics for our area (Garland County, AR), and we would like to share it with you. At the end of November, the total number of active single family home and condo listings on the market in Garland County was 1,307 – a significant decrease from the two previous months (Oct – 1,355 | Sept – 1,423). We consider this positive news for sellers, as we watch more and more sellers continue to withdraw their listings from the market during this time of year.  However, while the inventory is steadily decreasing, we also noticed that the home sales dropped slightly in November to 59 total units sold in Garland County during this month, as compared to 78 total units sold in October and 74 total units sold in September of this year. For more details, please click here to review our monthly market update.

Just finished reviewing last month's statistics for home sales in Garland County, and thought you would be interested in an update.  Home sales stayed exactly the same in October as compared to the previous month with 66 total sales.  The condominium sales rose slightly in October with 12 total condo sales, as compared to only 8 total sales the previous month. 

While the total number of home sales rose only slightly, the better news is that the inventory level dropped significantly - from 1,423 to 1,355 total homes actively on the market.  This tells us that some of those sellers "that really don't have to sell" may have taken their home off the market for the fall - which in turn helps reduce the competition for our sellers, and also helps balance the market.  Although the scale is still heavily tipped in favor of the buyers at this time, we consider this a positive sign of the market.

Please click here for the full details of our local market.  We prepare this report monthly and post it on our site, so you may view the report anytime by visiting www.BestofHotSprings.com and then clicking on the "Get the Latest Market Update" button on the left-hand side of the menu. 

There is some positive news brewing these days for the real estate industry, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that things continue to move forward in this direction very quickly.   We are receiving news that the original credit in the stimulus bill for the first-time homebuyers may be extended, AND the extra good news is that the bill may offer additional assistance to "move-up" buyers. 

The current first-time homebuyer credit is set to expire at the end of November and the Senate sources told CNN they have tentatively agreed to extend that $8,000 credit for first-time buyers until the end of April. In addition, they are adding a $6,500 credit for some current homeowners who buy a new residence by then.  For the full article from CNN, Click here.

If this passes, we hope to see many of those buyers get off the fence and make a move.   

Hamilton Pointe condominiums are still a hot commodity in Hot Springs.  This unique community has all the amenities that attract investors ... prime location, flat ground with very few steps, panoramic lake and mountain views, covered parking, covered boat docks, strict covenants, gate guarded entrances, pool, large private outdoor decks, and great floor plans.  

 If you currently own one of these homes at Hamilton Pointe, and you are thinking about selling your home, we would love to talk!  We have a buyer who is very interested in purchasing a home in this neighborhood, and hopes to make a purchase before the end of the year.  Please call us today!  501.655.6247 Jeff or 501.276.4446 Debi.

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Thought you would be interested in a market update.  As we reviewed the market statistics for the month of July, here’s what we noticed – the total number of single family homes sales increased in July with a total of 77 sales during that month – which was a significant increase over June’s total number of sales at 53.  While this seemed to be a sliver of good news, the current inventory level of single family homes actively on the market for sale is at 1,111.  Yes, this means there’s huge competition out there for our sellers, still making it a strong Buyer’s market.  In this kind of market, competitive pricing seems to be the biggest factor.

While single family home sales picked up in July, the condo market stayed about the same.  There were a total of 13 condos that sold in July (which was about the same number as the previous month).  The total number of active condos on the market is 384.  While the summer months are normally the peak season for condo sales – we are seeing this market suffering the most with the lack of expected sales during this peak period, which is also having an affect on the sales prices.  Unfortunately, we are seeing the values for waterfront condos continuously decreasing this year.

Our website tracking reports are also very good indicators of our current market, and we are pleased to report that we had a record breaking number of total hits for the month of July.  This was the first month that we have received hits over 100,000 and the total figure was 122,647 total hits for that month.  This figure tells us that the real estate market is very active – with buyers hovering, reviewing, researching, and continuously thinking about the real estate market.  While this number peaked in July, the month of August has started to slide downward in hits.  We’re hopeful that this is only part of the normal cycle that we see every year with summer coming to an end, vacations slowing down, and the kids preparing to start back to school.  In a normal market in this area, we tend to see this three week slow down in August every year.

As we continue to watch the trends of our market, we’ll keep you posted.  Click here for an overall view