Stimulus Needs Stimulating

Last year, when the first-time homebuyers incentive plan was introduced by the Federal government, there was a clear uptick in the number of buyers in the market. This year, the plan was reintroduced, along with a second incentive for existing homebuyers. It was obviously another, supposedly stronger, attempt to increase home sales.

Well, this time it doesn't seem to be working. Most brokers, including the one I spoke to this week in Phoenix, don't see the results. There could be more than one reason for this. First of all, most things like this--including big sales at stores--work better when people think that they are limited in time. If they think that deals will be offered again or extended, they are not as likely to move quickly. Secondly, it keeps getting harder for new buyers to get mortgages. This means that there may be buyers out there who want to buy, but who cannot qualify with the higher FICO scores now required. That last point is not necessarily a bad thing. If we can just stop and remember how we got into this mess, we will want banks to think twice before loaning to those who may not be able to repay.

I believe that there is also a fundamental flaw in the stimulus package, however. The government is trying to push demand from first-time buyers, who comprise the one group who will buy in almost any situation where they can. After all, they haven't bought homes at lower prices or with lower mortgage rates. They are generally buying because of changing life circumstances, and graduations, marriages, and babies happen regardless of the economy. Also, there are, in the end, only so many new households being formed. It might have made more sense to give the incentive to folks who didn't have the same motivation to move. After all, isn't it a little like giving a car price break only to teens?

Spring!

Now that the weather has finally improved, we're noticing a lot of activity with calls and open house visits. We are seeing people holding back on making decisions, however, with the idea that they will have more to choose from soon. We think that there's plenty to choose from already!

While many more houses will come onto the market in the next month or two, they will come on at the higher prices that owners think they can command in springtime. They also will move quickly if they are still considered bargains.

I guess the conclusion you would draw from this data, as a buyer, depends upon whether you believe in the "one person for each person" theory of marriage, or whether you think that a number of people could have been your ideal match, based on the circumstances. If you fall into the latter category, you would tend to support that concept in househunting as well, and feel that there might be several good choices you could make at any given time. As someone who has been married for a long time, I would also add that it's easier to change what you don't like about the house you buy than what you don't like about the spouse you pick!

In our office, whatever the view about the above questions, there's a general impatience with all the waiting around. We're ready to write those offers!