As I’ve been telling both my land buyers and sellers for some time, I thought that the biggest impediment to a return of anything close to a “normal”  land market was the large number of pending pre-foreclosure and actual foreclosures that are still working their way through the system. As reported by the Wire Reports and seen in The Arizona Daily Star on 11/20/09, “The foreclosure crisis likely will persist well into next year as high unemployment pushes more people out of homes, pulls down housing prices and raises concerns about the broader recovery. “  The article sites the trend of fixed rate loans made to people with good credit (versus sub-prime loans) sinking into foreclosure in greater rates. Fourteen percent of homeowners nationwide with a mortgage were either behind in payments or in foreclosure by the end of September. The states hardest hit include Florida, Nevada, California and Arizona which account for a combined 43% of the nations foreclosures.

Even in the current market, there are very strong opportunities to both buy and sell. To sellers; there are a lot of cash buyers looking for price driven deals that are competitively priced with lender foreclosed lots. Additionally, sellers who can provide carryback financing will have a distinct advantage over those that can’t. The lot market for parcels under $250,000 is very active. Remember, these are the same properties that were priced from $350,000- $500,000 as little as 18 months ago. To buyers; there has never been an opportunity to purchase so much land for so little money. I’m convinced that people who buy land “right” in this market will look back in 5+ years and be amazed at the appreciation and returns they have received. We have heard for many years that Real Estate is the way most great fortunes are made. This is a chance for the small investor or purchaser to reap some of those same rewards.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 10:01 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.