REAL TipS: BUYING

All real estate is local

Is it a seller’s market or a buyer’s market? Be careful where you get your information to answer that question. National news stories about real estate booms and busts may be true for certain parts of the country, but real estate markets don’t typically rise and fall evenly across the entire United States. Even looking at the Texas real estate market may be too broad an indicator to help you in your real estate decisions. It’s not uncommon for cities in Texas to experience different market conditions at the same time. A major corporate relocation, a growing or declining industry, and other factors can tilt a local real estate market one way or another.

If you hear that your city’s real estate market is up or down, though, you can bank on that, right? Maybe not. Sometimes, what’s going on in one area of a city or even a neighborhood may not reflect the conditions elsewhere in town. To complicate matters further, what was a seller’s market one month may be shifting toward a buyer’s market the next.

So how do you get a handle on this important information? Your best source is a Texas REALTOR® who works in the area where you want to buy a house. As a professional who monitors real estate prices and how long properties are on the market, your REALTOR® can give you objective information about whether you’re in a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. When you know the current local market conditions, you can make smart decisions that give you the best chance of buying the property you want at the best possible price.

Texas Association of Realtors®