Savannah Real Estate in 2007

Well, it’s nearing the end of the year, and what a year it’s been! Real estate has been a hot topic in 2007, nationally, and locally here in Savannah, Ga. The national slowdown in the housing market has affected Savannah in several ways, one being that people who planned to move here had to postpone because they first have to sell their home and they are in harder hit areas where homes aren’t selling very quickly. Another way Savannah real estate has been affected is that home-buyers are skittish and don’t know what the future holds, so they are holding off buying homes. The third way is that those who have bought have bought at very good prices.

The appreciation of homes in Savannah has been reduced, and those sellers who held on too long trying to get the higher, unrealistic prices are finding themselves having to negotiate heavily to get from under their mortgages if they had already moved and taken on another mortgage.

Hopefully we have learned two things: first, sellers can forget about double digit appreciation for awhile; second, buyers who are waiting too long will miss an opportunity if they wait until prices start rising again.

What we have gone through this year is a stabilization of an over-heated, liberally-financed market. It was long overdue. Another lesson is that buyers and lenders need to be realistic when it comes to financing.

Overall, though, in Savannah, the market has been steady. Houses have taken a little longer to sell, but in most of those cases it was because the homes were overpriced in this cooler market. Builders have been caught with too much inventory, but with incentives they have been selling, although at a slower rate.

I don’t know what the effect will be on real estate agents. I have heard of agents leaving the business, but I haven’t seen any numbers – that will show up when yearly dues and fees come up. I have, thankfully, had a good year. I hope your year has been good, and I hope the coming year is better.

P.S. My guest blogger from Cape Cod will posting soon, hopefully -- it is getting busy where she's at.

Mike from Savannah