When Realtors around the country were asked how their market was doing on a message board, here are some of the replies:
“Tampa Bay is down, down, and further down-one of the Florida markets which has suffered substantially. Market is down by about 35% compared to last year.”
“Buyers have been waiting for prices to drop. Now that builders are cutting the costs, the buyers are back. Same thing probably will happen when re-sale prices drop to acceptable levels. Seller’s, be smart. Price to market conditions; not to a CMA. Market conditions are the here and now. CMA’s reflect market conditions as old as the sales used to create them.”
(Virginia) “There’s no sign of a recovery here. Inventory is soaring and the buyers are sitting on the sidelines. Something will have to change the current climate in order for a turnaround to start. “
“I have had a really good year, I do not think our area eastern shore of MD has gotten hit with the slump like a lot of other areas. I am doing more ads, but thebuyers are coming.”
“According to today’s (5/26/07) Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Metro area had a 16% decrease in the number of homes sold in April. Prices in the resale market have come down. Homes in Naperville that are over $500,000 are taking over 115 days to sell…with multiple reductions. 4 bedroom homes under $400,000 are moving at a faster pace. You still need a CLEAN, staged home with some seller incentives to get it sold.”
“Now we have a huge inventory of pre-owned homes. For example in a small area I specialize in which is New Tampa and Wesley Chapel there are 263 homes avail able in just the 1,800 – 2,000 square foot range. This includes some of the builders inventory, but most are pre-owned. When I look at these homes, many of them are priced 20% or even 30% higher than the builders are offering them for. Out of the 263 homes available there are less than 50 that have any chance to sell within a decent amount of time. With this much competition only the very best priced, well kept homes will sell. We still have quite a supply of buyers, but it is not what we are used to over the last few years.”
“Austin Texas is, and seems to have always been, the exact opposite of the national real estate trend. Our market, inmany areas, is doing really well. There are some areas that the resalemarket is in competition with the new home market, but that is always a challenge.”
“Phoenix is slow. Great for buyers. Not so great for sellers. Lotsa homes on the market. I think 50,000. Harder for resale to sell. Competing with builders, they give good deals. Competing with short sales, lenders give good deals. Plus, with what’s happened with sub-prime, it’s harder to get loans. So, fewer buyers. “
“I am in Utah and our market is hanging in there. We have about 5000 home on the market in Salt Lake County and are selling about 1300 a month. Being at about a 3.84 months supply of inventory, we are still considered to be in a seller’s market. “
“It is a very opportunistic market in Scottsdale AZ, due to the large supply of inventory (approximately 52,000 listings)currently on the market. Sellers are finally lowering their prices. Buyers normally sitting on the sidelines are entering the market, creating the gap between sellers and buyers to narrow. “