Home sales dip
First-quarter home sales in the area continued to fall, but local real estate agents say there’s hope on the horizon.
In fact, the Janesville office of Shorewest Realtors had more sales in March than in any of the 16 months since opening an office on Milton Avenue.
In the first quarter, 244 homes sold in Rock County. That’s down 33 percent from the first three months in 2008 and down 49 percent from the first quarter 2007.
Average and median prices also declined in the first three months of 2009.
But Jim Zanton, Shorewest’s sales manager in Janesville, believes the local tide is turning.
Zanton said falling home prices, low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers is spurring the turnaround.
For a full story, read Friday's Janesville Gazette, read online in the Gazette’s E-Edition or check back at GazetteXtra.com.
May 2, 2009 at 6:36 a.m.
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cloudtown - you are getting the shaft. My taxes created a TARP fund to allow the banks to loan people JUST LIKE YOU money to get a house. If I were you, I would contact your state rep and complain like hell.....
May 1, 2009 at 3:26 p.m.
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If banks were stingy months ago our country would not be in the mess it is in!
May 1, 2009 at 2:45 p.m.
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I bet that more people would be buying homes if financing were easier to get. My husband and I have been to multiple banks and keep getting denied for a number of reasons, but basically keep getting told that our debt to income ratio is too high, and all the debt we have is a car payment and minimal student loan payments! No credit card debt at all and almost $10k in savings!
We both have decent, steady jobs, and no bad work history.
I don't understand how anyone is able to get financing right now with how stingy banks are being with their money!
May 1, 2009 at 7:48 a.m.
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So many people have been holding onto their houses in the hope that they could sell them at a reasonable price that the increase in sales could very well mean that they were finally forced to sell. In other words, an increase in sales isn't necessarily good, especially if home prices are down.
May 1, 2009 at 7:41 a.m.
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This can't be true.....
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