I look forward to reading Smart Money magazine and Wallstreet Journal writer, James Stewart’s column each Wednesday when it comes out in the Journal. The June 30, 2010 column had some very good comments on home ownership and buying a home.

Mr. Stewart talked quite abit about people with means to pay walking away from their mortgage just because the value of the house had declined. That is a point of discussion for some other time but in talking about this he says “walking away from a mortgage now is like selling at the bottom of the market”. He went on to say “houses that are underwater now may not be for long once housing starts to appreciate. And despite a recent slump in the number of home sales, home prices are rising in most areas and have been for the past year.” He also says “home ownership is a long term committment and people that are going to move in a year or so should rent instead.” The last thought I liked was “anyone forced to sell at a loss now, may also buy another home in a depressed market at lower prices unless they are moving from Las Vegas to Manhattan.”

Now my thoughts, the Grand Lake real estate market peaked in 2007. We have not seen the huge price drops in home prices that other areas of the country did. We have seen prices lower in 2009 than 2007 and 2010 has been a mixed bag. Lately we have sold two homes for a few thousand dollars more than was paid in 2009 for the homes. One was a waterfront home in the $800,000 plus range and the other was a rural home on a few acres. Grand Lake waterfront homes have held their value very well. We have more inventory of unsold upper end waterfront homes than we have had in several years, prices are flat, you might get a deal, interest rates are low, and now should be a time to buy with what looks like a nation wide bottom in home prices. Grove subdivision homes off the water have lost about ten percent of value on average from the 2007 peak. If you did not buy at the peak you probably still have price appreciation but the ones that did buy at the peak are suffering just like stock market losses but just not as bad. We have some nice selection of off water homes in Grove with great prices. Again, now should be the time to buy at the bottom. We have not seen but a very few new spec homes being built and the inventory is a long ways from the peak. We still have several nice homes to pick from but as one sells, it is one less on the market. If you are thinking of buying a retirement home on Grand Lake and the Grove, OK area, I would not tarry. This is sale time with low borrowing rates. Neither will last long.

You can search the Grand Lake / Grove area MLS at the button above. For personalized service call the Grand Lake Team at RE/MAX Grand Lake in Grove. Call Aaron Hughes at 918 801-5645 or aaronhughes@remax.net or Joe Neill at 918 640-3300 or jneill@remax.net. We hope to hear from you soon.