DENISON, TX--The National Association of Realtors reported a record jump in home sales Wednesday. Now, an estimated 4.57 million homes are being sold a year. It's been a long time since so many deals were closed on the market.
"For sale" signs may soon change to "sold" in neighborhoods across America.
"This is a wonderful time to buy. When you rent, you never really have anything to show for it," Bill French said, real estate agent.
Real estate agent Bill French says his business has picked up recently. The National Association of Realtors said pre-owned home sales jumped 4.3 percent in January.
They can find a lot of home for their dollar here in the pre-owned market," French said.
That wasn't always the case. After the crash four years ago, few buyers were shopping.
"We were directly affected by that. That has been our nemesis this entire time period," French said.
Fortunately for Sherman and Denison, French said there were never too many homes on the market.
"We never had a real estate explosion here or an enormous amount of business all at one time, so we never really suffered a crash," French said.
More jobs may have triggered the buyer optimism. According to national reports, employers added 243,000 jobs in January. Unemployment fell to 8.3 percent.
Now home buyers seem to be looking at pre-owned, instead of new, homes.
"That has actually been the bulk of our market now for the last couple of years," French said.
Not to mention interest rates have hit record lows. 30-year-fixed mortgages are now at 3.90 percent and 15-year ones are 3.17 percent.
"That's how we're making a living these days is selling the average home to the average buyer. That's actually the exciting part about this industry is helping people find their home," French said.
"Sold" instead of "for sale" may be a sign of economic recovery.
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