It is always fun to be the bearer of good news. Over the past few weeks I have heard rumblings of the real estate market finally starting to pick up in some areas of the country. While visiting an Austin Home Depot over the weekend someone had posted a sign in the entry that read “Real Estate Investor Seeks Apprentice”. Now that is what I call a good sign pardon the pun. Anything with the words “Real Estate Investor” has been extinct around here for some time. Grated Austin is one of the stronger markets in the country but I have witnessed and continue to witness friends and neighbors struggling to sell their homes over the past year.
Last week Investor’s Business Daily had a chart showing that the Birmingham Alabama market had appreciated the most in the prior four months through May 25 by 8.9% followed by Cleveland Denver Memphis and Rochester. Unfortunately it went on to state that home values have returned to 2001 levels in the country but that a new index shows price declines slowing. Homes prices in the South have been the strongest over the past few months.