Housing Prices Continue To Slump

According to RealEstateJournal.com housing prices are falling faster than any point during the last 16 years and there is no end in sight.

For buyers that should be a good thing. Prices always come back and getting into a home at the bottom is the ideal situation. If you plan on staying in the home for any length of time than getting in now, or soon, is a great opportunity. Prices may be continuing to fall but most analysts and experts are pointing to a recovery, or at least leveling off, to begin in 08.

If you, as a buyer looking to purchase a home in an area were you plan on living for the next 5-10 years than the short term down does not need to be an issue for you. Prices have already fallen considerably and will be leveling off soon. Once we get there prices will start going up again. The real estate market has these ups and downs constantly and while more and more people are not buying homes, prices are continuing to sag this is an excellent chance to get the home of your dreams at a great price before the market picks back up and buyers come out in force trying to grab all the great deals on beautiful homes. This process inevitably pushes home prices up and by then you could be paying 20%+ more for a home than you can right now.

For sellers this is obviously a very bad situation to be trying to sell your home in. There is pushing around a year's worth of inventory on the market in many areas around the country and it looks like, at least in the near term, it is only going to get worse. That leaves sellers in a bad position that only want to sell conventionally.

What options do sellers have to sell a home quickly in this market? Well there are a few things one can do to sell their home quickly. It really depends on the situation the seller is in and what they are willing to do. The two options I would choose from if I was a seller in this market would be:

• Seller Finance all or a portion of the sale.
• Drastically reduce price to encourage a quick sale.

Of course the first may not be for everyone. If the seller is willing to wait for all, or a portion, of the sales price with a balloon due in 1-5 years than it is possible to get your entire asking price or more. The other option is going to require the seller to undercut the market and price his/her home much cheaper than the competition for similar homes. Going this route the seller will end up with much less.