This is the meat of every buyer and seller's first question...is now the time to buy or sell a property. Is the market at the bottom, or at the top or how far up or down can it be? In this article we will give a regular update of conditions and ask the reader only to honestly ask themselves "does it really matter?" If the market is at it's peak you make more when you sell, but you spend more when you buy. On the opposite end - if it is in the tank, you "lose" when you sell...but your replacement home is cheaper as well. For most people the result is relative, unless you are omnicient, you can't bank on buying low and selling high - only that you need a place to live and likely are better off owning than renting like everyone else in the region who purchased a home over the last century. The end result unless you are moving to someplace no one wants to live, real estate values tend to rise or fall together in very large regions of the Country. While our market is predominantly the four counties of Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline and Anne Arundel, comprising the main postal zips of Annapolis to Easton, to Chestertown, with Stevensville, Chester, Grasonville, Queenstown in between we will concentrate for this article on one county - Queen Anne's Md - to give a snapshot of the region's marekt - since it is in the middle. We can provide information similar for Anne Arundel, Caroline, and Talbot Md. easily upon request, and can break it down to individual towns like Stevensville, Centreville, Annapolis, Easton, or Denton if you need it to assist you. May 2007 - clearly the market is in an odd place in Queen Anne's County Md. With sales or 62 units and a median sale price of $417,400. Units sold in Queen Anne's are down 24% from the previous year and down 31% from the generally accepted peak years of 2004 and 2005. But while units are down, the median home price in Queen Anne's has steadily risen from $360,461 in 2004 to $375,000 in 2005, to $382,000 in 2006. So how do prices rise when the number of units transferred has fallen each year for since 2004? The fact is that units are off for a number of reasons - clearly the real estate market national and regional trends, but units in Anne Arundel, Queen Anne's, Caroline, and Talbot all suffer from government policies restricting growth. So while demand has fallen and speculators are gone, lack of traditional levels of inventory is still a real issue. Additionally municipalities like Annapolis, Easton, and Centreville all have their own political struggles of those who want to shut the doors and those who have businesses and kids they want to have opportunities within their communities. In 2007 we see another dymanic that has not shown statistically yet. Prices have fallen in most categories, but the Queen Anne's County real estate market seems to be doing better in the expensive waterfront end of the spectrum and that brings up the averages and median prices. Starter homes have not seen current prices for a number of years and those motivated sellers will be unloading those homes in the near future. I believe that the real estate market is at the bottom and will improve. There has been a "wait for prices to drop" in Annapolis, Easton, Denton, Stevensville, Chester, Queenstown, Centreville etc. mentality for longer than can be sustained. People buy and sell houses when life changing events take place - birth, death, new job, lose job, marriage, divorce - these are the driving factors in the majority of sales, and those things have been taking place throughout the slow down. People in Queen Anne's County or other areas who decide they hate each other are going to move - there will be a sale without regard to the price eventually. People who fall in love will buy a new home to start a new life together - these things occur regardless of "the market". So watch for a significant bump in the market in the next few months - it's coming and if you want to buy low - you best think about doing it soon. I would not look for any significant appreciation as the marekt improves, but those "highly motivated sellers" (i.e. the ones who no longer want to live with each other on Kent Island and the rest of Queen Anne's County) their bargains will be snapped up first.

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