Although it's sometimes hard to feel, home purchase activity in the Northwest is trending upward. In the first quarter of 2009 the percentage of home purchases vs. refinances increased from 11% in January to 23% in March.
 

Although still a long way from the 7 to 3 purchase to refinance ratio of a few years ago, it's heading in the right direction.

We don't really want to be where we were a few years ago anyway. The more steady the recovery, the more likely we are to avoid another runup that will borrow buyers from the future. We want the recovery to take the shape of a "V" rather than the shape of a "W" which would result in another drop before we stabalize.

A slowdown could easily be caused by the Federal Government's failure to renew the first time homebuyer tax credit and/or a rise in interest rates for home loans.

Best Regards

David J Edwards
Real Estate Agent & REALTOR
The David J Edwards Team
Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound
Phone: 425-890-8045
Fax: 425-902-1899
E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com
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The David J Edwards Team specializes in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers.