The Real Estate market in the North Fork (and the Hamptons) is brisk in the East End offices of Town&Country, we are happy to report.
Amid wild swings in the markets, caused by (international) sovereign debt crises, the Media are continuing to report on the RE market with a negative bias: a great example today was MSNBC’s, and other cable channels’- negative slant on the NAR report of existing home sales for July of 2011, down 3.5% over June 2011. The reporting is entirely ignoring that the same number is up a whopping 21% over July 2010!
Buying Real Estate makes absolute common sense in the East End: What else are you going to do with your money? Buy Gold? – at all times record highs already. Buy Bonds without any return? Bank’s CD’s or savings accounts? The Stock market? I think not. Real Estate seems a great hedge at this point against the volatility of the markets. Hence we are seeing lots of cash deals, money taken OUT of these markets.
Why does Real Estate on the East End look so good? Prices according to most quarterly Real Estate reports are no longer in decline, maybe rising a bit,and the market seems to have hit bottom last summer at 20-30% below the top of the market: so purchase prices for homes are cheap. Associated Press reported this morning that Freddy Mac’s most popular 30 Yr mortgage had interest rates today at a low since 1971 at 4.15%! Homes are more affordable than they have been in a few generations. This combination of low pricing and extreme low interest rates is unlikely to remain for long.
So home affordability to the consumer today is great. And that’s why buyers are coming from the sidelines. Makes sense to me. And it will in turn help the economy create the jobs we need.
One caveat: homes need to be priced well and prepared extremely well for sale. We are seeing bidding wars for sexy, glamorous, attractively priced homes. And your Realtor needs to work full – maybe over- time to make delas happen. Consumers need a professional Realtor more in this market than ever before, both buying and selling. So call a Town and Country agent – specifically chosen as a specialist for his or her specific area!