If you are an average homeowner, the recent headlines regarding real estate are probably making you a bit concerned. If you are ready to buy or sell your home, the headlines may be making you a bit more than concerned, perhaps downright nervous. The media reports make it seem like all the lenders are in financial trouble, and those that are still in business are quickly placing stricter restrictions on the loan process. Foreclosures are at a reported high, and, frankly, all you really want to know is how it’s affecting you, your family and your piece of property.

The good news is that here in our South Fayette corner of the world we are holding steady. According to the WestPennMultiList, as of August 27 we have sold 132 homes since Jan 1st compared to 138 in that same time period of 2006. We currently have 33 homes with pending contracts and we have 118 active listings, which is just slightly above average.

All this is great news for the South Fayette homeowner, but that doesn’t really tell the whole tale.

For example, not only do you need to know how many homes have sold but if the home prices have changed significantly. Also, will it take longer to sell your home and are you going to get less money for your home than you would have last year?

Here are the facts:

According to the chart, average days on the market (DOM) have decreased for properties under $200,000 and increased by more than a month on average for properties over $200,000. So, it is going to take a little longer to sell your home than it did last year, if you are in that higher range.

More homes were sold this year in the under-$200 range and fewer in the $200 – $250 range; more homes were sold in the under-$300 range and fewer in the $300 – $400 range. This leads us to believe that sellers who may have normally priced in the low $200’s instead chose the high $100’s bracket, and those who may have priced in the low $300’s instead priced in the high $200’s. The homes that sold support this theory. The current active listings also seem to back up that surmise.

The chart doesn’t show, however, whether prices have dropped since last year. The easiest way to check that is to go into a condominium community where all the units are built very similarly and see if there has been a reduction in what was sold last year versus this year. Research shows that, rather than showing any reduction in pricing since 2006, pricing in South Fayette is holding and in many cases creeping slowly upward.

The bottom line is that, although we never got the huge increases in real estate in early 2000 through 2003 that some other parts of the country enjoyed, neither are we experiencing the painful drops in pricing. We had a small adjustment last year and since then our pricing is holding steady and beginning to creep upward here in our own neighborhood.

So, for the average South Fayette & Neighbors homeowner, with a conventional mortgage who is not planning to purchase or sell presently, cross worrying about your property value off your stress list. For those of you who are contemplating selling your home, you should be fine provided you didn’t just buy yesterday. Finally, for those of you who are contemplating purchasing, do so now. Interest rates are still reasonable and, while the loan process may be slightly more involved than in prior years, you will be much more likely to be able to comfortably afford it throughout the length of your ownership.