Even though the economic news, and particularly the real estate market news across the country, is less than optimal, the word in Corpus Christi is that our home values are holding, and if you are a buyer 2009 is the year for you.
“There is no doubt that real estate has taken a hit nationwide. But in Corpus Christi,” explains Carole Edwards, 2009 chairman of the Corpus Christi Association of REALTORS®, “ we are fairing well in relationship to the rest of the country. One of the major reasons we are doing better here is that we did not have inflated prices. Our market increased steadily over time, rather than suddenly skyrocketing exponentially. The second reason is we had very few sub-prime loans here.”
“But what is important to note, is that there has been a shift in our market. Even though values have remained strong, in fact the average sales price increased from $161,216 in 2007 to $162,594 in 2008 and the median price increased from 136,500 to 138,900, according to the Coastal Bend Multiple Listing Service (MLS) statistics, our market has become a buyer’s market.”
A buyer’s market is defined as one in which there is a high inventory – one with an inventory between 9-12 months. Currently MLS statistics reflect that we have 3,949 properties on the market. That is a 9.2-month supply. For the same period in 2007, there were 3,041 listings reported through MLS, 7.6 month supply.
“We are also looking at 50-year low interest rates,” and explains Edwards, “if you are a qualified buyer not only do you have a large number of homes from which to choose, but with 4 to 5 percent interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages, you can buy much more house for your money. It is definitely the time to buy.
And the good news is if you are a seller, the average sales price remains strong, so you can continue to get your equity out of your home when you decide to sell. But since we do have more properties for sale, and it is a buyer’s market you also might want to do more to prepare your home for sale so you can compete with the other properties on the market in Corpus Christi.”
To give you some idea on how Corpus Christi compares to the state and the nation, according to the Texas A & M Real Estate Research Center average sales prices in Texas are static across the state, but in Arizona the average sales price dropped $115,000. Median sales prices were the same in Texas for 2007 and 2008. But they are down as much as 41 percent in California from 2007 to 2008.
As for the number of homes sold in 2008, compared to 2007, according to the Coastal Bend MLS we are down 19 percent. In specific numbers that translates to 4,844 homes sold in 2007 compared to 3,949 in 2008. Total dollar volume has decreased 18 percent. In 2007 total dollar volume was $7.8 million compared to $64.2 million in 2008.
“There is no question, our sales are down here. It would be impossible for us not to be affected by what is going on across the nation. But looking at 2009,” Edwards says, “we are cautiously optimistic. No one could predict that we would be where we are today. But we think we will come out on the better side of this in Corpus Christi. The positives for our real estate market in 2009 include the following:
· Housing remains strong, but affordable in Corpus Christi
· It’s a great time to buy – We are in a buyer’s Market
· Interest rates are the lowest they have been in 50 years
· Values remain strong
· We had very few sub-prime loans in the Coastal Bend
· We have not been in an inflated real estate housing market
· Developers and Investors continue to look at our market as very affordable
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