Lancaster County PA Realty Check: October 2009

Time is quickly running out for the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.  Homes must be settled before December 1, 2009 in order to qualify for the credit. A recent post by Jennifer Fivelsdal spelled out the situation.

This can be cash in your pocket from Uncle Sam!  If you live in Lancaster County PA and want to take advantage of the tax credit, email brian@cbselectpros.com or call (717) 951-5552.

Are Lancaster County PA Home Mortgages harder to get these days?  If so, it's not because the Lancaster County housing market is slower than other areas of the country - in fact, Lancaster County is up 30% over last year for real estate sales! 

See the press release below published by the Lancaster County Association of Realtors:

Local Home Sales Continue to Rebound      August 2009 pending home sales up 30 percent

Lancaster, PA (September 22, 2009)-Lancaster County's real estate market continues to show signs of recovery, according to a recent report released by the Lancaster County Association of Realtors®  (LCAR). In August 2009, pending home sales were up 30 percent over August 2008 with most price ranges seeing double- digit growth in pending sales.

The $100,000 to $200,000 price range has proven to be 2009's strongest performing market with pending home sales up 45 percent in August 2009 versus August 2008. Growth in other price ranges is an indication that the first-time homebuyer tax credit has had a "trickle up" effect that has reenergized the real estate market as a whole, LCAR members say. In August 2009, pending home sales were up in the $0 to $100,000 price range (26.5 percent), $200,000 to $300,000 price range (13.7 percent) and $400,000+ price range (36.4 percent) over August 2008.

"We've seen a tremendous number of first-time buyers realize the dream of owning their first home. We're also seeing buyers and sellers in general regain confidence and move ahead with their homeownership goals," commented Scott Ulrich, president of LCAR.

A September 2009 article in BusinessWeek magazine recognizing Lancaster as the 19th strongest housingmarket in the U.S. further affirms that the local real estate market is fundamentally sound. With mortgage rates continuing to hold steady at historically-low rates, ample inventory available at all price ranges and a seeming boost in consumer confidence, LCAR looks for sustained market improvement.

As I discussed in Lancaster PA mortgage rate analysis, government overspending and overborrowing is robbing the credit markets of private money that could have been lent to private investors who would have restarted the recovery.