Can you believe that it is already October
8th which means that Christmas is only 11 weeks away.
Boy does time fly when you are watching bad news on TV!
What a roller coaster ride we have had this year with the world economic
meltdown which lead to the global recession, tourist numbers way down
in the Bahamas, Royal Oasis still closed, Xanadu Closed, a 3 year
legal battle over the Grand Bahama Port Authority ownership still
dragging on, huge unemployment in the US and on Grand Bahama,
big multi-million dollar Bahama projects like Ginn stalled, the local
real estate market historically slow and depressed and the list
goes on.
If you are pessimist and think the glass is half empty you
probably think that everything will continue to get worse and you probably
think that there is no real estate market in the Bahamas and especially
in Grand Bahama. If you keep watching the gloom and doom on TV this
makes you feel even lower as the world powers are flexing their muscles
and threatening nuclear buildup and there does not seem to be any good
news anywhere. I agree these are very challenging times and it
is easy to think that things will not get better. But have heart and
faith because this is just a down cycle and according the experts the
recession is technically over and the real estate market which has been
very sick world wide is returning to health.
There is certainly plenty of bad news
out there and it’s worldwide but bad news sells newspapers and keeps
the talking heads on news shows in business. Good News is boring
television. Usually the bleak economic picture is reserved for Freeport,
but it seems that every corner of the globe has had its own financial
problems. The good news is that last year at this time the predictions
were that we were facing another Great Depression but we all survived.
From a historical perspective the Stock Market drops were not as bad
at Black Monday 1987 or The Great Depression and the stock market is
strong again with the Dow Jones hovering in the 9,700 area which has
allowed people to recover some of the great losses experienced last
year. Unfortunately, there is still some uncertainty and fear in the
market as these recession/recovery cycles do take their time and people
are worried about their jobs, their retirement accounts, their investments
and their future.
So what does all this bad news with a hint of good
news around the corner mean to our Freeport Housing Market. Well for
one if you own a home it is still a great investment and you should
be comfortable knowing that historically even with the ups and downs
in the economy Real Estate has always proven to be the BEST investment
you can make. If you are trying to sell your home today you must be
realistic with the pricing as the world housing market is off up to
13 – 20%. If you must sell in this market as many of you must do
for many different reasons, then you have to be prepared to accept
less for your house then you might have received a year ago as it is
clearly a buyer’s market and buyers want great deals. If you are
not willing to reduce your prices then you should take your home off
the market so you don’t waste everyone’s time and end up disappointed.
As far as prices are concerned there is no doubt that the value of
your home has decreased about 15% and the number of transactions
in our market is down so there are lots of houses on the market. Having
said this, the good news is that even if you reduce your prices you
are still making good money because the value of your property has increased
over the last few years and some of you have had the benefit of appreciation
over the last 10 - 15 years. If you are trading up or down the
prices of the new property you want to buy has decreased so you are
still ahead of the game as it will cost you less to purchase the new
property.
So believe it or not this could be the right time for you
to buy or sell or buy and sell. In November West Jet will begin direct
service from Toronto twice a week and we will also have direct flights
from the Big Apple (New York City), Atlanta, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale,
Miami and West Palm. These direct flights will generate renewed interest
in our market which will help the economy and more specuifically the
real estate market.
So if you are a buyer get away from the
bad news on the TV. Stay Positive and keep looking for that great
real estate deal because this is the time to make your move as sellers
are very willing to negotiate. If you are a seller then adjust
your price, make a deal, sell your house and move on with your life.
Contact James at
Coldwell Banker - James Sarles Realty
james@sarlesrealty.com