"2007 to Be a Good Year for Realtors if Sellers Maintain Reasonable Pricing"
From the Lodi News-Sentinel:
Realtors in Lodi are maintaining a positive outlook, with the expectation that a large menu of loan choices, decreased home prices and a low mortgage rate will encourage buyers to invest in a home. But the real key to doing well in the slowing market is for sellers to adjust home prices accordingly, said Larry Underhill, the incoming president of the Lodi Association of Realtors. Underhill compared the housing market to a balloon that has slowly been losing air, rather than the proverbial bubble bursting.
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He said buyers are still showing a lot of interest in the Lodi area, so he expects 2007 to be a good year for Realtors if sellers maintain reasonable pricing.
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However, affordability could still be an issue for those looking to move to California from out of state, said Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist for the California Association of Realtors...Kleinhenz said the cost can be prohibitively expensive for first-time homebuyers.
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For renters and landlords, a similar slowdown is expected, according to Eileen St. Yves, who sits on the board of the San Joaquin County Rental Property Association. She said it can be difficult to find qualified tenants because lower income families are buying homes. In addition, there are more rental properties available because those who can't sell their homes often turn their home into a rental property as a way out. St. Yves said that just as with selling a home, landlords should price their rentals for a slowing market..."In 2007, the most important thing anyone can do is price right," she said.
6 comments:
So a 10%+ decrease in 10-12 months is a slow leak in the balloon?? If that is true what does this guy call a burst, 50%? I know he has a mortgage and kids to put through college but lets be realistic here.
The Real Estate Clercks monopoly cares about one thing; sales. Everything else is just gravy. Did you see one word about pricing THEMSELVES correctly? Anyone who sells this year gets less, everyone who buys is giving away equity and the clerks still get their egregious cut. If they aren't careful buying and selling real estate could devolve to a process similar to used cars between private parties.
Oh, Robert, we care more than just about sales. We like watching you pop blood vessels, too!
It's almost as entertaining, though I daresay not nearly so lucrative.
If you were a realtor, what would you rather have: a listing for $400k that doesn't sell, or a listing for $360k that does? Of course they see a 10% drop as a "slow leak." It's a slow leak in their income, as opposed to the complete crash of houses barely trading at all.
Cheap entertainment: use Zillow and current MLS listings to find the house that will wreck the market in a given neighborhood. You're looking for a seller who held through the boom and is now compelled to sell by a move, death, or divorce -- that's the one who can slash price, pulling comparables down.
Alternatively, check out the lowest numbers that a bank's likely to accept on the increasing number of bank-owned properties.
John L., your comments are germane to your profession. Why not idenitify yourself so the credit can be corrected assigned? Of course you won't because you think your personal reputation as a representative of the industry has value so instead you make anonmous snarky comments and condemn the entire industry with your words.
Without intending to you've done these readers a great service. This is a reason I use my real name. It makes me careful about what I say. Give it a try. Repeat what you said but sign it this time. You won't because if you do I promise that your attitude will be disseminated. Wuss.
Why buy if prices will be lower 12 months from now? There are those that will have to sell or lose to foreclosure, bankruptcy, job relocation, etc. Can't see the RE people getting rich trying to catch a market that's lost all balance. 10, 15, 40%, in price reductions or new home incentives and its a slow leak? It might be a good year for Lodi RE people if half of them go away and the other half cut their commissions in order to move the inventory. This market doesn't change until the RE fundamentals change and by all accounts they are deteriorating each month. I wouldn't be surprised to see further price reductions that approach an additional 25% off the current falling prices especially when you consider all the ARMs and Interest Only's coming due this year.
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