Negotiating the New Market - Homes under $300K Sell Faster

Advice: If your house is in the lower price range of your area, it will sell.

Trying to move a higher-priced home. Be prepared to face longer waits or drop your asking price. Consider thoroughly cleaning and de-cluttering before putting your home on the market.

For those competing against new construction, a greater investment in improvements such as paint and new flooring or substantial price concessions may be needed to attract buyers' attention.

The market may be slowing, but make a lowball offer at your own risk.

Some sellers, burdened with large first and second mortgages, simply cannot lower their asking price much — and homes in lower price ranges are still selling fast at or near asking price.

Buyers of homes in higher price ranges may be in luck: sellers in these ranges must now be more receptive to making concessions.

Good news for sellers: The number of days homes remain on the market before they are sold held steady in most areas.

From The Salt Lake Tribune

New Home Sales Surge in April 2007

Sales of new single-family homes jumped 16.2 percent in April, the largest increase in 14 years, but the median price fell 11.1 percent, marking the largest one-month decline on record, according to the Commerce Department.

Analysts regarded the mixed signals cautiously, saying that troubles in the subprime market could further crimp demand in coming months.

''What you're seeing is the blue-light special,'' says Pat McPherron, an economist with Moody's Economy.com. ''The only way this market is going to move is by price cutting.''

The strength in new-home sales was led by a 27.8 percent increase in the South. Sales were also up in the West by 8.5 percent and in the Northeast by 3.8 percent. In the Midwest, sales fell 4 percent.

Meanwhile, April's median new-home price of $229,100 made the record books as the largest-ever month-over-month decline, as well as the biggest year-over-year drop (10.9 percent) since 1970.

Source: The New York Times (05/25/07)