Existing-Home Sales Down in January but Higher than a Year Ago; Prices Steady - Realtor.org
Existing-home sales fell in January but are above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – dropped 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.05 million units in January from a revised 5.44 million in December, but remain 11.5 percent above the 4.53 million-unit level in January 2009.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there is still some delay between shopping and closing that affected current sales. “Most of the completed deals in January were based on contracts in November and December. People who got into the market after the home buyer tax credit was extended in November have only recently started to offer contracts, so it will take a couple months to close those sales,” he said. “Still, the latest monthly sales decline is not encouraging, and raises concern about the strength of a recovery.”
Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 0.5 percent to 3.27 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.8-month supply2 at the current sales pace, up from a 7.2-month supply in December. Raw unsold inventory is 9.6 percent below a year ago, and is at the lowest level since March 2006.
“Activity should be picking up strongly in late spring as buyers take advantage of the tax credit, which is critical to absorb distressed properties reaching the market and to continually chip away at inventory,” Yun said. “With a downtrend in the number of homes on the market, especially in the lower price ranges, values are beginning to firm but with great variance around the country.”
The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $164,700 in January, unchanged from a year earlier. Distressed homes, which accounted for 38 percent of sales last month, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they typically are discounted in comparison with traditional homes in the same area.
A parallel NAR practitioner survey4 shows first-time buyers purchased 40 percent of homes in January, down from 43 percent in December. Investors accounted for 17 percent of transactions in January, up from 15 percent in December; the remaining sales were to repeat buyers. The survey also shows that buyer traffic increased 9.4 percent in January.
NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said buying a home in the current environment has become more challenging. “First-time buyers and others who need a mortgage are increasingly losing out to all-cash investors for the best bargains in many areas, particularly for foreclosed homes where cash is king,” she said.
“Inventory conditions vary by price range, and of course there are major differences depending on location. Realtors® are the best buyer resource for strategies on winning bids in increasingly competitive markets,” Golder said. “The bidding for more desirable homes will only accelerate between now and the April 30 contract deadline to qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000.”
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 5.03 percent in January from 4.93 percent in December; the rate was 5.05 percent in January 2009.
Single-family home sales fell 6.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in January from a level of 4.76 million in December, but are 8.6 percent above the 4.08 million pace in January 2009. The median existing single-family home price was $163,600 in January, down 0.4 percent from a year ago.
Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 8.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 620,000 in January from 675,000 in December, but are 38.1 percent above the 449,000-unit level a year ago. The median existing condo price5 was $172,400 in January, which is 1.4 percent higher than January 2009.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 10.9 percent to an annual pace of 820,000 in January but are 22.4 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $245,300, a gain of 8.8 percent from January 2009.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest declined 6.9 percent in January to a level of 1.08 million but are 8.0 percent higher than January 2009. The median price in the Midwest was $130,300, which is 1.0 percent below a year ago.
In the South, existing-home sales dropped 7.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.87 million in January but are 12.0 percent above a year ago. The median price in the South was $140,200, down 2.0 percent from January 2009.
Existing-home sales in the West declined 5.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.28 million in January but are 7.6 percent higher than January 2009. The median price in the West was $203,400, down 5.8 percent from a year ago.
The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
National Guard Mobilized in Deep Creek Lake, Garrett County
Deep Creek Dunk a Success!
Regardless of the damper that the weather put on the situation, the Deep Creek Dunk was a tremendous success! Here are some photos from the dunk, by Lori Hill, a Garrett County resident. My personal favorite, some of my friends dressed up as the old school wrestlers featuring Hulk Hogan, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austion, Sting and Ric Flair. Classic:
Garrrett County's Famous for Winter Storms (again)
The website TornadoVideos.net picked up some of my photos from the latest winter storm here in Garrett County, which I have dubbed ‘Snowpacalypse 3′. Ironically, we had another 3 feet of snow drop in the area during this latest blizzard, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. The storm has weakened, but we are still expecting another 6-12 inches of snow today. Assuming that these totals are accurate, we are at approximately 23 feet of snow for the season! 23 FEET!
From their story at TVN:
“The latest in a series of nor’easters is currently wreaking havoc across the central Atlantic into New England. States from Vermont to West Virgina are experiencing some of the most brutal conditions of the season today as a monstrous low pressure system wobbles over the region, bringing HEAVY snow and near hurricane-force winds. Blizzard conditions have been causing serious problems all across the northeast, including power outages, massive flight cancellations and major road closures. These conditions are likely to persist until sometime tomorrow! Included are photos from New York City, which has picked up nearly 20″ of snow, and western Maryland, where another 3+foot snow event is underway. Thanks to everyone who contributed!“
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Local Photographer Jim Crabtree finalist in Wedding & Portrait Photographers International
A great friend of mine and a local photographer, Jim Crabtree, is in the top 20 in a very important photo competition with a mummy shot of Kasey Bell. Its an international photography association called the WPPI the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International.
There were 1000’s of entries internationally and they were narrowed down to a few hundred and then narrowed down to 20. Jim Crabtree, a Garrett County native, is in the top 20.
You can vote at the official site or go to the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International convention in Las Vegas next week. You can vote as many times as you like, similar to American Idol.
GO HERE TO VOTE: Kasey is #18
http://www.rangefindermag.com/storage/contest/freshfaces_voting.html
Let’s put Garrett County on the map in the photography world and bring home the win for Jim Crabtree – a Garrett County ALL STAR!
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Maryland maple farms offer syrup, pure and simple - Washington Post - Deep Creek Lake & Garrett County
Garrett County’s & Deep Creek Lake getting some love from the Washington Post today.
An excerpt from the story:
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In a few days to weeks, the trees in Western Maryland will start blooming . . . buckets.
As maple syrup season nears, producers in Garrett County are readying their tapping equipment for harvesting time, which runs from the end of this month through April. The sap starts to flow during the spring thaw, when the combination of mineral-rich soil and temperate weather yields exceptionally rich and sweet syrup. (Quick dendrology lesson: Sap is the sugary water that circulates in a tree after it wakes up from a cold winter.)
Roughly 30 syrup makers cluster in the mountains and valley around Deep Creek Lake, which is thick with indigenous groves of sugar and red maples. They farm the sap the old-fashioned way, by tapping holes into the sides of trees and arranging a system of rubber tubes or steel buckets to move and amass the sap. Many of them collect the liquid gold by hand, hauling heavy buckets to the evaporation room. To produce a gallon of syrup, they must boil down 40 gallons of sap. Consider that the next time you smother your pancakes in syrup.
Steyer Brothers Farm is the largest producer in Western Maryland as well as the oldest: Last year, it celebrated its 100th anniversary. In a good year, the family-run operation (Grandma still lends a hand) squeezes out about 1,000 gallons of syrup. They sell the sticky amber substance for $7 a pint or $30 a gallon. The price tag is higher than such mass-produced syrups as Aunt Jemima, but compare labels before you go cheap: Major brands may contain less than 2 percent maple syrup; the local liquid is 100 percent pure.
“The syrup here is special because of the soil and the weather,” said Randall Steyer, who runs the 100-acre farm with his wife, teenage daughters and other relatives. “You’d be surprised at how much of this stuff we sell to Vermont.”
— Ben Chapman
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Deep Creek Lake Real Estate Sales - Call Jay Ferguson & Railey Realty
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Snowpacalypse 3 in Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake
Wow. What a blizzard out there. We have at least a foot and a half of new snow on the ground since yesterday, and another foot and a half supposedly falling over the next 18 hours. This is an incredible noreaster with 45-50 mph wind gusts. I waited for the Garrett County Roads plow truck to plow out my neighborhood and then hit the road for some supplies. Here is a gallery of photos of downtown Oakland on Facebook. Several businesses remained open, but its so bad that Walmart shut its doors due to weather for the first time that I ever rememeber since they have been in Oakland.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
Google and Garrett County, Deep Creek Lake
When Brian Oxford called to tell me that this project was taking shape, I was incredibly excited to help spread the movement. Let’s help put Garrett County on the map with the power of Google. Check out the main page and sign the petition!
Also, the Facebook group. Get your ideas out there!
From Google’s website:
“Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.”
My Reasons why Garrett County should win:
1) There’s already fiber infrastructure in place here, saving time, resources and money.
2) Google can flex its muscle by putting a RURAL area on the MAP.
3) We are a resort area within a 5 hour driving radius of 10% of the US Population, more people can enjoy it via ‘smart’ vacation homes, as well as full time residents.
4) Garrett County is GREEN…(really, look out your window and I guarantee you see a tree)
5) Our schools are ranked amongst the highest in the state – imagine what equipping our children and teachers with the ability to learn/teach at the speed of Google would do for the future of Garrett County, Maryland, the United States of America and the World.
6)In the event of nuclear fallout, Garrett County is strategically safe – think about it.
7)That kind of speed would make Garrett County a hub for more businesses and workers to telecommute (DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Northern Virginia) reducing traffic, saving gas and other natural resources, and creating more jobs (without bailouts or stimulus money).
Spread the word. Google + Garrett County & Deep Creek Lake = Everybody Wins
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
DNR Property Renamed Gary Yoder Fish Management Area
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Feb. 25, 2010
Gov. Martin O’Malley and the Board of Public Works (BPW) in Annapolis yesterday honored three Marylanders who devoted their lives to conservation and stewardship. One of those was the late Gary Allen Yoder, a longtime Department of Natural Resources employee and Garrett County resident.
At the request of the governor, the board acted to approve naming of DNR properties in honor Yoder, folk-singer and educator Tom Wisner, and Park Ranger Julie Schweikert.
“Today we honor three individuals who dedicated their lives to helping citizens and visitors better understand and appreciate the beauty and importance of our natural resources,” said O’Malley at a meeting attended by family members, friends and colleagues of the honorees. “Now their work will live on ? not only in the hearts and minds of all they touched ? but also through the land and education programs they loved.”
The Carrie Dixon property in Garrett County will be named the Gary A. Yoder Fish Management Area in honor of the 30-year DNR employee, who was instrumental in efforts to restore and promote fishing opportunities in the region.
Yoder, who passed away suddenly on Nov. 29, 2009, was DNR’s first manager of Deep Creek Lake and later worked extensively in land acquisition and planning. The Carrie Dixon parcel was DNR’s first acquisition for public boating and fishing access on the North Branch of the Potomac River.
“If I know my father as well as I think I do, I know he would be proud of this honor,” said Garrett Yoder, Gary’s 14-year old son. “He put everything into his work, and now I’m happy that there is a way for everybody to know the important work he’s done.”
Read the rest of the article here.
If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350
