Art in the streets....
Scenes from the Carmel, Indiana International Arts Festival 9.22.07.

The festival started Saturday morning with a Chinese Dragon Dance and parade. Over 200 vendors exhibited and sold their art from paintings to sculpture. There were musical stages and great food served througout the weekend. This was the festival's 10th year and 2nd since moving back into Carmel's Arts and Design District.














Random thoughts for the week actually related to the real estate business....

The Interest Rate cut has NOT yet helped everyday mortgage rates to a significant degree. The short explanation is that there are far too many other factors pushing rates up right now for it to help. If inflation stays in check, look for another potential 1/4 point rate cut next month when the Fed meets again.

Indianapolis August Home Sales stats are in.....and it's not good news. The 11 county metropolitan area sales were down over 18% with Hamilton County getting hit the hardest with a 21% drop from a year ago. Prices have moderated and it is a great time for someone looking in the long term to make a tremendous purchase.

Nationally the numbers aren't as statistically bleak but still very disconcerting. New-homes sales tumbled in August to the lowest level in seven years, a stark sign that the credit crunch is aggravating an already painful housing slump. Sales of new homes dropped by 8.3 percent in August from July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, driving down sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 795,000 units. That was the lowest level since June 2000, when sales clocked in at a pace of 793,000.

Covering old ground but....IF YOU ARE A HOME SELLER you must ask yourself two critical questions:

1) Do I have the motivation to sell? Are you willing to moderate your price to meet the demand of the market?

2) Am I willing to recognize the equity I'll be building on my new home as a result of the slow market? Those moving up now should see great value growth in their new purchase as a result of buying in a challenged market.


As always you can email me with questions at GREG@GREGCOOPER.COM or call me @ 317-848-GREG (4734).

You just never know who you'll run into at the Starbucks in Carmel, Indiana.

As I walked across the parking lot to my car, I vaguely recognized the figure standing about 20 feet away. While he was slouched and shaking a bit from his illness, Muhammed Ali was as pleasant and approachable as any public person could be. Having no shame about interrupting his day, I walked up and introduced myself. He smiled and graciously agreed to a picture. His wife was inside getting coffee as they traveled from their home in Michigan to Lousiville on a family matter. We took several photos of which this is the only one that I actually look reasonable enough to post (scary thought). Muhammed playfully put his fist to my chin and smiled for the first one, then realizing I had the 'you've just met an international icon' stupid grin on my face, I retreated to a very basic side by side. As we did this a bus load of High School students stopped nearby and began to pile out. Several of the teen agers recongized him and came over as to visit. As he began the first of numerous new photo ops while being hugged by the cute 17 year old females, he looked at me and in a whisper said "Can't disappoint my fans." His huge grin told the rest of the story. I laughed out loud, thanked him again, and backed away. Even though his body is failing him...his mind is still there in full force.

Random thoughts actually pertaining to the real estate business......

1) Interest rates are coming down. Look for the Fed Chief Bernacke to lower rates at least a quarter discount point next week and maybe as much as a half to combat the national housing market problems. Between the rates falling and the lower demand/increasing inventory, there are great buys to be made in the housing market right now.

2) Two critical questions every home seller must ask themselves in order to successfully navigate the market. First do you NEED to sell? If you don't have the stomach the adjust your price to meet the sliding market, you should give serious thought to postponing your move. Having said that, if you're a move up buyer, the timing is still good. If your current home is worth 3% less than a year ago but you'll buy something else up the price ladder at a less value also, you will still be pleased with your decision over the long haul. That's what real estate is now....a long term investment. Flippers had best be following the CYA strategy in this market because it's tricky.

Secondly, as a seller do you have the equity to sell? If you bought a home a year ago with little down, you probably don't have the position to sell in this market. Reconsider your timing or the possibility of leasing the home if the risk is acceptable.

We have acutally had to decline certain potential homes to sell with people who wanted to list with us because they were simply not in a postion to recognize a sale in our current market. If someone bought two years ago at the peak of the market and has their home mortgaged above what they actually paid for it, we probably can't help them and yes, you cannot believe how often this occurs.

On that note, a recent title company survey on the closings they conducted across the USA in 2006 revealed some startling data. Of all of the closings, over 38% were done with ZERO money down by the purchasers. That means that most of those buyers were upside down in the equity in their homes from the day they closed. Is there any wonder why we have the delinquency rates we do right now relative to mortagages? Is it any surprise that lending criteria will get tighter as the next 12 to 18 months rolls by?

National Housing Sale Index Falls....Opportunities Grow For Buyers.

An index that measures pending sales of resale homes dropped in July to its lowest level since September 2001, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

The Pending Home Sale Index, which is based on signed contracts for transactions that have not yet closed, dropped 16.1 percent in July compared to July 2006, to a reading of 89.9. That compares to an index rating of 89.8 in September 2001. Pending sales are typically finalized within one or two months of signing, the association reported.

An index score of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity for the full year in 2001, which was the first year to be examined in the association's index and the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said in a statement, "It's difficult to fully account for mortgage disruptions in the index, and our members are telling us some sales contracts aren't closing because mortgage commitments have been falling through at the last moment."

He also said that there are problems with jumbo loans and for subprime borrowers, "but there are no serious problems for the majority of buyers who qualify for conventional financing or (Federal Housing Administration-insured) loans."

The Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in July, fell 12.2 percent to a reading of 89.9 in July from the June index of 102.4, and was 16.1 percent lower than July 2006 when it stood at 107.1.

Regionally, the July index dropped 21.8 percent in the West, 15.8 percent in the Midwest, 15.2 percent in the South and 10 percent in the Northeast compared to the same month last year.

The index is based on a national sample that typically represents about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales, the association noted.