According to a recent article in the Greenville News, numbers for the housing market are down for September, but numbers for year-to-date are up. Numbers pulled from the Greenville Multiple Listing Service show only 466 home sales as opposed to September 2009 home sales of 597. When 2010 year-to-date numbers are compared to 2009, we see a slight increase of 1.7% in home sales. The medium sales price for homes in the Greenville area rose 2.1%, $140,000 to $143,000. This is as positive sign for Greenville, however small it is. In September 2009, home buyers were still working hard to take advantage of the tax credit, thus the influx of home sales.

With unemployment at 11% and an unsteady economy weighing heavily on home buyers and sellers, the real estate market seems to be settling in for a long winter. The good news for homeowners is interest rates are still low.

According to a Freddie Mac survey released last week, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage interest rates averaged 4.19% for the week ending October 14, 2010. This is a record low since the survey began in 1971. The survey went on to say that 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.62% for the same timeframe; this being the lowest since 1991, when Freddie Mac began tracking this type of loan.

Because of record low interest rates, banks have seen a surplus of home owners refinancing their homes. This surplus will definitely provide a stir to the sluggish economy. Homeowners who save more on their monthly mortgage will likely have more money in their pocket to spend.