Lately I’ve been writing articles for a credit reporting site, so doing some extensive research on credit scores.

What I found could be good news or bad news, depending upon your attitude.

Real Estate Statistics

I learned that the average credit score in the U.S. has fallen from 676 in January 2010 to 666 in October 2010. Not good news, considering that you need a score of 720 or so to get good rates on a home mortgage. (My research gave me numbers that said everything from 720 to 760 for the top rates, but the number mentioned most often was 720.)

According to more research, most lenders will at least consider a buyer with a score of 620 or above – meaning that the “average” consumer in America today has a score too low to qualify for the best rates, but a score high enough to get a loan.

BUT… Here’s the better part: the median score today is 723.

The median score is the one in the middle… So that means that over half of the American population DOES have a credit score that’s in the range of getting them the best interest rates on a home mortgage.

Even the average score of 666 means that well over half of the people can buy a home, if they so desire. Some of them will just pay a little higher interest rates than others.

(Too bad the figures didn’t tell me what percentage is above 620, but I guess I can’t ask for everything.)

You have buyers waiting for you. So go out there today and look at the glass half full instead of the glass half empty.

Consumers who can and do buy now will get homes at low prices and with low interest rates. That means that most can purchase a home with a payment that fits comfortably within their budget.

Instead of spending every dollar supporting their homes, they’ll be able to enjoy living in them. Right now, in many cities across the U.S., the payment on a new home is less than the rental payment on a similar house – or an apartment.

So do your research, get the statistics, and show those reluctant home buyers that they should act now. Not just because they’ll enjoy owning their own home, but because it makes good financial sense.

It’s true that prices could see another drop, but if interest rates rise by as little as 1/2%, any savings they gain by waiting will be lost.

Get your marketing in place, and reach out for the half of all citizens who can do business with you right now.

Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.

She’ll help you with one letter, or an entire marketing plan. For Real Estate agents and brokers who are ready to get full value from their websites, she’ll be happy to put together an entire package – from the web copy to the lead generation packages that make an agent’s phone ring.

For busy agents on a budget, Marte offers pre-written letter sets for use in postal mail or in e-mail continuity campaigns. The current selection includes letters for FSBO’s, Expired Listings, Short Sale sellers, First Time Buyers, and a set for new agents to send to buyers. Read what’s included in these sets by visiting www.copybymarte.com/pro/prospecting.html

Marte’s weekly ezine for real estate professionals offers tips and hints for building a successful business. To subscribe, and to see other resources available for real estate sales professionals, visit her at www.copybymarte.com

A report from Bloomberg shows that home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose more than forecast:

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose more than forecast in May from a year earlier as a government tax credit temporarily underpinned sales.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 4.6 percent from May 2009, the biggest year-over-year gain since August 2006, the group said today in New York. Another report showed consumer confidence dropped this month to the lowest level since February.

Have the prices rose in the area where you live?

There are many factors why some areas have seen an increase while others are still lagging behind. The biggest indicator is the local unemployment rate. For home prices to rise or stay steady, jobs will need to be sustained. The areas where unemployment is still high are the ones that home prices stay low and are on the market longer.

The other big indicator on rising prices are the areas that were hit the hardest, thus dropping the home prices the most benefit the most from a percentage standpoint when the market rebounds.

As we continue into the second half of the year, we hope that new and existing home sales remain steady.

The the extended tax credit for first time home buyers, November saw a increase in home sales which were the best in nearly three years.

As we end 2009 and look forward to 2010, if the economy continues to recover we should continue to see an increase in new home sales.

This is a positive sign for the real estate market and real estate agents across America.

It’s a positive trend that home sales have increased over the last two months.

Nationwide, home sales are up 36% in October over the same time last year.

Have you seen a positive trend in your area?

Here’s some positive news we’ve been waiting to see for quite some time, new home sales increased 11% over the month before. This is the most it’s increased in a month in over 8 years.

Even though housing sales were up in June, the median home price in June was $206,000, 12% below the price a year earlier.

Google has introduced a new real estate listing feature for people looking for houses on Google Maps. When you click the “show search options” a drop down menu will appear where you can select “real estate” and search by city, state, or zip code and then narrow down to particular neighborhoods or streets.

Google pulls their real estate listings from different places such as homesandland.com, prurealty.com, mls.com, and plenty of others.

When you hover above a listing it will give you as much details about the property that’s available.

It will be interesting to see how agents use this to marketing their properties or if home buyers will use it to find homes their interested in purchasing.