What's happening to the Savannah real estate market?

It's slow. It's slow all over, downright sluggish in some areas. But, eventually it''ll get better. It's difficult to be optimistic in such a doom and gloom enviornment. Every day you hear more bad news from the financial sector. Now our government is talking about a $700 billion rescue plan -- it gets worse and worse.

Yet, still, most people are paying their mortgages and life goes on. Savannah has still not experienced the same devastation as some areas have experienced. It's slow, but it's not dead. there was some over-building but not much. Condo conversions got ahead of the market and you can find some great deals in condo communities.

Will the prices continue to drop? I'm not sure, but I believe we have seen the lowest prices -- however, there's always a chance the financial situation could linger for enough time that prices drop some more. The rule for safety right now is that if you don't have to buy or sale, then wait. Yet, for those who want to take a risk in order to buy before the prices start to rise, might consider now as a good time. The reason is that you are likely to get negotiations now that land you a lower price than any further market price reductions will be in the next 6 months. In other words, if you can negotiate a 20% reduction right now when things are scariest and the market goes down 10% over the next six months to a year, then you are 10% to the good.

However, it's not easy to get a 20% reduction, even in this market. Prices in Savannah have remained fairly stable, just no rise in prices. But some people are in a jam with their mortgages and might appreciate a buyer of any sort, even at a much lower sales price than they had hoped for. Is this taking advantage of the situation? No, it's just buying and selling -- no one is forced to buy and no one is forced to sell (even if a seller can't make the mortgage payments, they aren't forced to sell, just forced to give up the home). 

It's not a pretty market, but it's not the end of the world. Savannah will go on and we will go on, things will change, prices will go up and prices will go down. Just make sure you've done your homework before making a transaction in this market. In every market there are opportunities.