Really. I thought I had really come to terms with the market. It seems like things are slowing down. It seems like houses sell for less than asking price. It seems like the holidays are almost on us. It seems like all the buyers have crawled into their dens to hibernate until spring time.

So it seems.

But just when I think I have that all figured out I see two houses selling immediately upon listing. I can't be certain until they actually close, but I suspect one sold at above asking price as well.

So, that begs the question. Is this a good time to sell? When is the best time of year to sell? We are two months away from Thanksgiving... we don't have to sell now... should we list our house now or wait until after the new year?

Chances are you have either asked yourself this same question or heard it asked of you in one form or another. The answer is that it is always a good time to buy and sell. Really.

It is true that if you look at the sales activity across an entire year there are highs and lows of activity.  Late Winter and early Spring see the activity picking up. Summer sees a slight fall off. Early Fall frequently sees a resurgence in activity. But never does it drop off to 0 transactions.

Buyers may expect to get a good deal going into the holidays and conversely Sellers may have to give up a little on price to complete the sale. As a Seller be realistic. Now is not the time to stretch for the top of the market pricing. But, from the Seller's perspective it could cost just as much or more to hold on to the house until late Winter and early Spring during "Real Estate Season".

If you need to sell now, sell it. There are buyers out there as my example of two quick sales has shown and if you put together a deal... fantastic! Both Buyer and Seller come out ahead. The Seller needed to sell, the Buyer needed to buy. Perfect.

24 Hour Market Watch
The NWMLS system shows a "24 Hour Market Watch." It simply shows how many properties have been Listed, gone Pending, Sold, etc. There is no better instant indicator of what is happening with the market. For several months now I have seen the number of houses going on the market (New Listings and Back on Market) outnumber the houses going off the market (Contingent, Pending, Expired, Cancelled) by almost 2 to 1.

The last few days the houses going off the market are outnumbering the houses coming on the market.

I am just going to store that information away for a few weeks to see if there is a long term change in the market other than the normal annual cycles happening.

Tuesday's Interest Rates
Doug Ward, Sr. Loan Officer, usbancorp Mortgage Advisers, LLC,425 885-9544

Loan Program	Rate	Fee
30 Year Fixed (Conforming)	6.375%	0.000
Fixed Jumbo	7.500%	0.000
15 Year Fixed (Conforming)	6.250%	0.000
Second	9.000%	0.000

The Financial Week Ahead, Information courtesy of Doug Ward
Announcements due this week:

• Monday, Institute of Supply Management Index, Expected to see numbers supporting low inflation in manufacturing.
  
• Tuesday, Pending Home Sales, Expected to see a slight increase in August after July's drop.
  
• Wednesday, MBA Mortgage Applications. Expected to see that rising long term rates are slowing refinance activity.
  
• Friday, Employment Situation, Very Important, Expected higher unemployment and lower job growth may indicate future lower interest rates.
  
• Friday, Consumer Credit, Expected changes are within historical ranges and should have very little effect on rates.

See Doug's entire newsletter.