Albany NY Real Estate: Albany NY Real Estate Market is heating up

Despite all the doom in gloom in the national media the local real estate market seems to be picking up significant activity. This appears to be due to somewhat warmer weather, great interest rates, the new $8000 tax credit, and sentiment that home prices are at acceptable levels.  Homes that are priced right are selling quickly. In the past 3 weeks, I have been involved with about a half dozen multiple offer situations. This may be hard to believe if you watch the national media. The key is the homes were generally all priced correctly by top agents. Overpriced homes continue to languish for months making sellers complain that the market is weak. This is generally not the case.   I continue to see agents over pricing homes.  I lost a listing to a newer agent recently that priced a home more then $30,000 above my estimate of market value. This home is going to sit until the price is reduced and the agent is going to waste everyone's time. The key in this market remains the same as it has been. Price the home correctly and the buyers are there.