News Summary

It's a buyer's market locally, a trend that is spreading nationally, local real estate agents said.

Nationwide, sales of existing homes fell 8.4 percent for the first quarter of 2007, registering the largest drop since 1989, according to a report this week by the National Association of Realtors.

The drop in local housing prices happened sooner than the national wave, said Jeff Ankrom, professor of economics at Wittenberg University. Part of the issue is the healthy amount of construction that causes sales of existing homes to suffer, he said.

"Even in established neighborhoods," he said, "the rate of increases in home prices has been fairly slow."

The news is good for those in the market to buy a home.

Jim Burton, president of the Springfield Board of Realtors and agent with Burton-Minnick Realty, said home prices and mortgage rates and terms are excellent now, and selection is plentiful.

Burton said the length of time on the market has increased slightly, admitting the local housing market is feeling the pinch and sellers will need to "present homes in top condition."

The national decline was three times greater than expected, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.12 million units sold. This pace, the slowest in three years, is expected to continue, and industry analysts predict a rebound might not occur until 2008.

Troubles in the subprime mortgage market, which supplies loans to borrowers with weak credit, are starting to hurt sales.

As a result, lenders are tightening loan standards, making it harder for some buyers to secure financing. More delinquencies are creating a glut of homes for sale. RealtyTrac, which follows mortgage foreclosures, reported that foreclosures surged by 47 percent in March compared to a year ago.