Sunday, April 4, 2010 – Spokane, Wash. – Low interest rates, affordable home prices and home buyer tax credit opportunities have just about everyone thinking about buying a new home. If this includes you, be a part of the first REALTOR® Nationwide Open House weekend next Saturday and Sunday, April 10-11.

The event will provide residents all across the Spokane region with a chance to view homes in specific neighborhoods as the spring home buying season officially kicks off! Look for blue balloons everywhere next Saturday and Sunday, indicating participating open houses sponsored by your Spokane REALTOR®.

Why now? The tax credit countdown continues! With only 26 days remaining, I can tell you that local real estate activity is buzzing! Interest rates have remained at historically low levels and Spokane’s median home price is as low as it’s been in five years. Home buyers still have time to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit available for first-time buyers, as well as a $6,500 credit for current home owners who have accepted purchase contracts on their new home in place by April 30.

Spokane is affordable! This is a great time, with tremendous opportunities for those who may have been priced out of the market a few years ago. Here is one quick statistic provided by the Washington Center for Real Estate Research (WCRER). Spokane’s housing affordability index in the 4th quarter of 2009 was 168, the most affordable of the five largest counties in the state. What this means is that the median family income in Spokane is equal to 168% of the mortgage on a median priced home in Spokane.

You can also compare that favorably to the statewide affordability index, which for the same period is 136 overall. WCRER reports that homes across the state haven’t been that affordable since the first quarter of 2004.

These opportunities won’t be around forever. If you wait too long, interest rates can climb and make your mortgage climb along with it. “Our upcoming open house weekend is a wonderful way to kick off this year’s home buying season,” say members of the Spokane Association of REALTORS®. The enthusiasm is contagious among our membership, and I couldn’t agree more.

Be a part of it, next weekend! If you want to visit specific neighborhoods, check early in the week with any Spokane REALTOR® for the Open Houses scheduled in neighborhoods of interest to you. This year’s event follows on the success last May of the Statewide Open House held here in Washington. Now national in scope, states all the way from Washington to Florida are participating.

You are invited to visit www.SpokaneOpen.com for online open house details. Select your favorites and sort them by price or neighborhood. Check back here next Saturday and Sunday to see homes listed throughout our communities and obtain information and answers to questions about specific homes, market conditions and the home buying process.

Look for the blue balloons next weekend! Remember, today it’s an open house – tomorrow it can be your house!

This event is a collaboration between numerous state and local REALTOR® associations across the nation. REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which may be used only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not all real estate agents are REALTORS®.

Linda Miller welcomes comments and can be reached at President@SpokaneRealtor.com.