By Mark Abromaitis
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

All markets fluctuate. But is the real estate market really as bleak as many media outlets report?

Many housing experts say that the real estate market is still profitable for most sellers, and the prospects for 2008 are looking up.

A realistic view
Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ vice president of research says in Realtor Magazine, “It’s all a matter of perspective. Home sales do continue to be soft. We’re predicting home sales to be down 7% … at the end of 2007, but that’s coming off of a five year boom. We’re forecasting a sales level near 2002, a very good year, and a year that’s far closer to normal than we’ve seen over the past four years.”

He also says that homes as investments are still making people money. “At the same time, price appreciation is holding up better than media reports would have us believe,” he says.

A good return on investment
Pam Matschat, retirement counselor at Maris Grove, an Erickson community in Glen Mills, Pa., says that people who have owned their homes for longer than five years are seeing very significant returns on their investment.

“If you bought your home in the last three years, during the boom, you won’t see that much of a profit,” Matschat says. “But if you bought your home five,  ten, or even 20 or more years ago you should make a significant profit on the sale of your home.”

A recent report from Acxiom Real Property, a data collection agency, supports Matschat’s claim. The report shows that average home values in Glen Mills have increased a whopping 12 times in the past 30 years. In 1977 the average purchase price in the Philadelphia suburb was $32,541. But today the average price is $404,349.