Real Estate Market to Rebound

Berge acknowledged that DeSoto County and the five-county region had an overbuilt market. "We had too many houses," Berge said. However, he said once buyers started coming back to the closing table, that the inventory gap of homes on the market would lessen. "I think there's pent-up demand - you just don't see it," Berge said.

Berge said homes of the future would be smaller but not necessarily less expensive. He said "empty-nesters" looking for smaller homes still want granite countertops in the kitchen and other luxury amenities.

"There is a lot of opportunity in redesigning houses for these move-downs," Berge said.

The most recent building permit information for DeSoto County shows that Southaven leads all other cities in the number of building permits issued within the past 10 months with 120. Of that number Southaven and Hernando tied for the top number of building permits issued in October with 12, followed by seven permits in Olive Branch, two in Horn Lake and two in Walls. Unincorporated DeSoto County had 10 new building permits issued.

Year-to-date, with two months to go before year's end, there have been a total of 394 building permits issued. That compares with a high of 2,802 issued in 2005, the high watermark for the housing industry.

Of local housing starts in area subdivisions, Snowden Grove subdivision led the area with 33 starts and 49 closings within the past 12 months, followed by Windstone subdivision with 18 starts and one closing.

Donnie Chambliss, Home Builders Association president, said the newly extended and expanded first-time home buyers tax credit program, which has been extended to April 30 of 2010, has led to renewed optimism that the tax credit will lead to more prospective homebuyers in the near future.

"All across our state, we're seeing benefits from the tax credit," Chambliss said. "It (tax credit) was bringing us closings as early as June 1. We now have the opportunity to expand our market now with the extension. Our builders are still building. I'm looking forward to the future."