BAM!  Your house just went down in value.  Interest rates shot up this week so property values just went down.  It's just like the U shaped flask that your chemistry teacher used in high school.  If you blow on one side the fluid goes down but it raises the level on the other side. Interest rates up: Home values down.  Interest rates down: Home values up. 
 
As a Realtor and eternal optimist I always try to find the silver lining.  Here are the stats on the central Ohio market taken from the July IN CONTRACT magazine published by the Columbus Board of Realtors. I'll unveil the silver lining at the end.  Sales in the Columbus MLS (Multiple Listing Service) are down 14.1% from last year. Average sale price is down 3.9%.  Where is there a silver lining in that?  Here's my take on it.  The year started off at nearly 25% fewer sales than 2007.  It has actually improved in the last 6 weeks.  Have we hit the bottom and started to rebound?  I think so.  We have had unbelievably low interest rates which now have gone up to July 2007 levels (6.75%)  Other factors that may affect our recovery are gasoline prices, other energy costs, inflation, tax increases. Those could slow our recovery.  Oh, yes, there is one more bit of good news; the number of properties for sale has decreased by 5.2%.  Some areas are actually experiencing a balanced market (6 months of inventory).  A seller’s market is when there is less than 6 months of inventory.  A buyer’s market is when there is more than 6 months inventory.  In fact, just last month one of my clients listed their home and we had three offers at the same time.  That allowed us to work the buyers against each other to find the one who would pay the most.  (You do remember I am a licensed auctioneer too…right?J)    
 
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