Time is running out. The window of opportunity for the Federal and State Tax Credit is closing quickly.

If you’ve been living under a rock for the last several months and haven’t heard, there is up to $9,800 available in tax incentives if you purchase a home and close by Nov. 30, 2009. Is the incentive going to be extended or expanded you ask? We can only hope so.

Last month the 400 North Board of Realtors reported 21 homes sold for the month of August in Dawson County. This month, sales remained flat with another 21 homes sold. But the real story is in the breakdown of the numbers.

Out of the 21 homes sold, there were 11 bank or corporate owned homes, another two were new homes, and eight resale homes sold.

Are there some good deals out there? You bet.

As an example, one home was listed for $139,900 and ended up selling for $51,500. That’s a 63 percent reduction.

This month let’s take a look at some of the other numbers that are driving the Real Estate market.

First, let’s look at the average county wide sales price for the month of September 2009, it was $208,519.

In September 2008 the average home sold for $342,431.

That’s a whopping 39 percent reduction in just 12 months.

Will this trend continue? Probably so, as banks and builders unload their inventories and individual home sellers have to compete with these prices. 

The home inventory levels continue to be high, although they are down somewhat from the previous months.

We are averaging just over 400 single-family homes for sale in the county, which equates to about 14.4 months of inventory at the current sales pace.

Previously we were at about 15 months of inventory available.

So let’s get down to the September numbers:

There were a total of 21 home sales in September.

The average home sold for $208,519.

The average number of days the home was on the market was 140.

At the current rate of sales, there are 14.4 months of inventory available.

These figures were provided by First Multiple Listing Service and reflect all home sales that changed hands through the assistance of a realtor.

Scott Whelchel

Public Relations Director, 400 North Board of REALTORS