Yes!, even here in Columbus Indiana, where the housing market and Real Estate, have been minimally affected by the down turn in the economy, up until recently!

But is it a "Sad State of Affairs?", or is, "Opportunity Knocking!", a question that is not so easily answered. When people ask me, I say "It's sad for some and opportunistic for others!"

While checking the weather report and road conditions, I happened to visit the Columbus Sherriff's Website, where I located the next Real Estate Auction calender, so I checked it out.  I was simply in awe!  There are 24 homes going on the auction block January 13, 2009, visit the following link to see homes that are available. http://bartholomewco.com/forms_center.php?folder_id=31&icon=31&dept=15

That made me think, so I then checked out Columbus, IN.,  on Trulia, first for Foreclosures, then Bank Owned, and then Auction, those you can look up on your own.  Now imagine all those homes plus the on hand inventory in the market today!  Remember its a Buyer's Market.  Should I suggest checking out "Ocwen Properties"http://www.ocwen.com/reo/home.cfm  or even HMBI is dedicated to providing highly trained professionals to market and manage numerous single-family homes across the country for the Department of Housing and Urban Development http://www.hmbireo.com/  If you need an experienced agent that has had dealings with HUD, call me, or email me, and we can discuss the HUD home of interest to you..

But the point here, is that there are many individuals that are definitely saddened by the foreclosure and loss of their home.   Times are tough, the National economy is in the tank, Unemployment is rising!  And no matter what "Real Estate is local"

 Up until the typical slow down period just before Christmas, the Columbus, Indiana Real Estate market was relatively stable with minimal decreases in the over all market.

Columbus, Indiana faired pretty well, we are still in kind of a bubble?  The 2007 Columbus home sales were $231,221,935. with 1408 units sold, and 2008 was $220,169,532. with 1316 units sold. Producing a 4.77% drop in total sales, and a 6.53% in number of units sold..

But I just ran the figures for year to year for Bartholomew County and the overall sales dropped from $331,818,914. with 2062 units sold in 2007, to $286,189,951. with 1788 units sold, in 2008. Which is basically a 13% drop year to year. Not really good but not bad considering some of the harder hit areas nationally.


There is a chance for "Opportunity To Be Knocking" it's a very Opportunistic Buyer's market.  The normal market has an abundance of homes listed for sale. So if you are thinking about moving or buying a home for the first time, or as an investment, the opportunity is there!  Better yet, Interest rates have dropped to near record lows, creating a great incentive to Buy!

I suggest you hire an agent like myself to research and find that home. Visit my website at http://www.columbusareahomesforsale.com for more information regarding Buying or Selling. Get yourself Prequalified, have sufficient funds available, and as they say the "World Is Your Oyster!" and you too, can have the American Dream.