My Personal Finance Odyssey

As they often say, “real-estate is local”. Thus far, the local real-estate in my area has been fairly resistant to the types of price drops we have seen in some of the sunnier parts of the country (Florida, Nevada, Arizona, etc.)…until now.

Today, I saw an ad for $100K off the base price of newly built homes by a local builder. Wow. I suspect this ad sent shivers down many people’s spine:

• A “shot across the bow” for other builders who will feel additional pressure on their own prices
• A startling wake-up call for existing home owner’s who are trying to hang tight
• A body blow for those who currently have their home for sale or soon will be
• Absolute despair for those who recently purchased houses from this builder in the last year or so

Of course, not everyone is entirely unhappy…including me. As everyone who reads this blog is likely aware, I have been struggling over a potential home purchase for over a year now (Buying a More Expensive House: Update). Although the price drop from the builder is likely to affect my current house as well, I think this is easily offset by the money we could potentially save on the new house we have been considering.

I will continue to watch the situation slowly, but this may prove to be the beginning of a more sharp decline in our own real-estate market, which may in fact lead to a faster recovery. Admittedly, if that is the case, it would be a bit quicker than I had expected as I had anticipated 2008 to continue with a slow, but consistent decline.