John you are correct in that you can not guage a market with looking at a 4 week period. One can make assumptions however the fact that real estate sales increases every spring and early summer in NH have to lead me to wonder. I do know that houses are selling where a year ago they were sitting. i know that as fast as i can list a bank owned home, get it cleaned up and priced to todays market we can put it under contract. As far as non foreclosed homes selling the ones that are clean and priced right are selling, the one sthat people owe too much on or are priced too high seem to be sitting. Total inventory seems to be going down. Banks are loaning money to thise who quailify and FHA is very popular with new home buyers using 3.5% of their own money to purchase. Lastly some area's seem to be doing better than others as well as some price ranges are stable while others are still coming down slowly. By all means if a buyer can find a home they like and get it at a geat price lower than todays market value, they will be in great shape when the market does takes an upturn. We will all know about a good year or too after it does, the tv news will tell us so dont worry.

Hi John,

You are very astute--short term fluctuations are really not trends. The so-called dead cat bounce has fooled a lot of people. The concept is that even a dead cat when dropped from an 8 foot ladder will bounce; and so will the stock market when it plummets down over a few days or weeks and then bounces...but it's still dead.

However, today we are seeing that home prices, which have trended downward for 24 months or so, are holding. At the same time we are seeing inventory shrinking and new construction starting up (slowly) again, and homes which are under agreement are starting to grace our data sheets. Further I am pleased to see NEW unemployment slowing, and mortgage rates holding in the 6's. These all could be short term fluctuations, but there are a bunch of them--so I for one will call this the beginning of a trend.

Best Luck,

Dane Hahn
NH Broker
603-566-5460