Ok...the home buying tax credit has ended...now what?

This is the million dollar question. There are a lot of people out there that are saying that any increase in homes sales this early in 2010 is due purely to the tax credits that ran out on April 30th, that buyers that would have normally bought this summer have now already bought and we are in for a pull back of sorts.
I don't think this is entirely true. I think that we did see an increase in the numbers (over 50% for the Maloof organization for the first 1/4 of 2010) that was fueled by a decent percentage by the tax credits. For Jennifer and I, for the first quarter, we've been just as busy on the home buying front as we have the home listing front. We currently have more homes for sale now than we ever have in our career, but the number of homes that are pending is also up considerably, so 2010 is starting off with a bang. I believe this will continue to a great or lesser degree for the rest of 2010. Caterpillar has announced much better than expected returns and as the old saying goes, "So goes Caterpillar, so goes the rest of the Peoria area".
We are working with a lot of people that are coming in from outside of the area not just with Caterpillar however, but with the medical community and other segments of our local economy. There is still a lot of conservatism in the market, but I think things are on the right path.

The Oak Run area continues to be a secondary home market for a lot of the homes on the water, and that market has continued to be a little more soft that the others. The number of homes on the market right now in Oak Run on the water is up considerably, not just with new homes coming on the market but with a lot of homes being held over from last year that have not sold. There are some great buys out there and for someone that is considering whether or not to be a jump into this market, now is a great time!


We haven't had a regular post in a while and that perhaps is because of the stimulus package for tax credits that has been out there has kept us a little too busy to be an active blogger lately...sorry about that. :) The last few days we've seen a little pull back and it has been nice to get caught up in the business of the business and we'll get right back into posting some of the latest updates on the market!