Grand Rapids Home Prices Up 35% Over Last year

 More great news for the Grand Rapids Real Estate market! As reported by the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors, Grand Rapids area single family home sales continue to improve and are up a whopping 39.2% over the same time period last year. The actual numbers are 1075 homes sold versus 772 in September 2008. The average sales price is also up 2% compared with the year-to-date average of $107,285. Single family year-to-date sales volume is up to 8,657 (14.1%) compared to 7587 YTD in September 2008. Inventory lever rose slightly to 8.7 months.

22% of homes sold in the Grand Rapids area remain in the $100,000 to $140,000 range with less than 50% of residential single family home sales counting as short sales and foreclosures.

The $8000 Tax Credit is one of the main reasons for the increased sale of homes  in the Grand Rapids area. The current Tax credit is set to expire on November 30th, 2009. This means that for home buyers to claim the $8000 credit, they would have to close on November 30th and no later.

Some good news to come out of DC is that there is a bill in play that will extend the First Time Home Buyer Tax credit into next year, April 30th, 2010. The $8000 credit will then reduce by $2000 each quarter until it expires at the end of 2010.

For more information on the Grand Rapids real estate market and to search for homes, visit my website at GRRealEstateInfo.com or contact me any time.

$8000 Tax Credit Ending Soon – Grand Rapids Real Estate Update

$8000 Federal Tax Credit is Ending Soon

If you are thinking of purchasing a Grand Rapids home or condo and want to use the First Time Homebuyer’s $8000 Tax credit, time is running out. To qualify, you can’t have owned a home in the last 3 years and you must purchase a home before December 1st 2009. This is a real credit and does not have to be repaid. Many clients have taken advantage of it this year.

In order to close on a home by the end of November, your should be looking right now. My website provides all of the listed homes on the MLS Database and the search is free. Feel free to use it and if you have any questions, let me know. Once you find your home or condo, you will need to have an accepted offer before the end of October, just to be on the safe side.

If you don’t know where to start and would like to talk to a lender, give Scot Veneklase a call at Exchange Financial. Scot can be reached at 616-957-3480.

Click Here for a 2009 Tax Credit Q & A