Soft Market...Not so Fast
I have recently been encountering the impression that the market has crashed and buyers can offer any price at all for a property and be taken seriously.
I think this may be a misconception that is looking at the National news and applying certain trends as a general blanket, and I don't know as though that is a correct assumption.
I too watch the nightly news as well as other news analysts and have heard all of the housing statistics that are not necessarily possitive. Although this morning MSNBC recorded that last month housing sales were up 3.7% nationally. With that said, the average selling price was down by 1.8%.
This is a good example of what I believe we are seeing here in the Adirondacks. We have this conversation what feels like weekly, "what should I do to get more activity...Reduce the price". Homes up here all selling all the time and things are constantly going under contract. Homes that are priced fair to the market that is. We all lived in '04 and '05 where interest rates were low and the stock market was doing well and real-estate sellers were very happy. I think we have come back to reality in '06 and '07.
As opposed to saying that it is a buyers market, which I don't believe we are there yet, I would say that we are in a more balanced market. Properties that are not shooting for the stars on their list price are still selling quite frequently, and alot of investment properties such as multi- families are selling in a realistic time-frame as well.
I truely believe that as a buyer it would be more beneficial to ask your Realtor if the national trend applies to the area you are shopping in. I know myself that I am very candid and would have no problem telling a client when a listing is too high, and the other agents in this office are also under the same level of honesty. It happens, some sellers want what they want and wont budge, and that is fine, but we may suggest at that price to keep looking at other comparable properties more realistically priced.
Post your opinions...
Jodi Gunther