The Real Estate Market - What Is Driving It?

Lisa -- thanks for being a good sport about leaving the Before to show how important that the editing process is in writing a post!  Great work!  I really look forward to seeing your future posts here at Active Rain!

Colleen,

I am so grateful for your help in making this post feature-able.  Hopefully, I will get better at this from your guidance.  It will be my pleasure to assist others going forward.  Thank you, thank  you, thank you.

Lisa & Robert, the media plays a huge role in what happens with the market and I have written posts about how successful Realtors adjust to markets and look for new opportunities in every market.  I have written that "Seller Financing" is a viable option and I started to use it again after nearly 20 years of not using it and it has made sales for me that I would have not normally made. Also, we as Realtors and investors have the opportunity to pickup some great buys to ad to our investment portfolio. We can all live in the doom and gloom world or we can rise above it and look at what this market offers.

Lisa -- it was a pleasure working with you and I am sure that you will improve...  At the end of our session you were catching things that I purposly didn't correct to see if you would catch it.   Just remember editing is a muscle -- it needs to be exercised!

Hi George,

We applaud your constant efforts to share your successes in Real Estate with us here in the Rain.  Thank you for your comment.

Colleen,

Agreed!  I promise to do my exercise daily and thanks again for your kindness.

Lisa - NICE job with this post, and congrats on your GOLD star!!

Ann

Thanks Ann,

Did it with alot of help from my friends here in the Rain :)

 

• The Media reports are all gloom & doom so it must be their fault! Who The Interest Rates are historically low, low, low The Inventory is historically high, high,highwith 288 homes actively listed in the Pascack Valley The Economy is strong so there's money to be spent The Unemployment Rate has remained very low so there are jobs for everyone The Stock Market - well, that's always Up & Down! Realtors are either very slow or extraordinarily busy The Weather is either too cold or too hot - sounds like a fairytale

Mmmmm.  I don't buy some of the premises above. 
1.  The media don't help, but the media, print media in particular have never been friendly to REALTORS.  That isn't it.
2.  Interest rates are NOT historically low.  They are 1.5% higher than they were in 1995.  That isn't it.
3.  Inventory is high which should bring buyers out.  That isn't it.
4.  Unemployment Rate is low, so folks have income.  That isn't it.
5.  Stock Market.  Blah! ! !   No relationship unless speaking about builders' stock. 
6.  Realtors slow???  Sure, But, that isn't it.
7.  Weather too hot or cold.  Not ever.  That isn't it.

What IS IT??????  Easy. 
Prices are too high.  Buyers will not pay for overpriced homes.  Sellers are living in La-La-Land
and listing agents keep bidding the prices up to get the listings. 

That's what it is here and I live in the real world.

Thanks for commenting Lenn.  Now why not tell us what you really think of our post. :)  We appreciate everyone's point of view.  That's what makes the world go round.

My opinion, the price of wood and nails will never get cheaper, and people just won't stop making babies. The market, (like the ocean) will change, but always be there. You just have to shift at times and go where the market is. Don't worry about who or what's driving the market, instead, focus on it's destination. That's my Bradism for the day! Great work on the 2nd post, Colleen did the same for me. She is the Best!!

Hey Lisa and Robert.

Don't get me wrong.  I loved your post.  What it does is isolate the reasons why my market in MD and Northern VA is NOT moving.  Consumers do, indeed, move the real estate market and around here, consumers are not moving.

 

Hi Brad,

Yes, Colleen is really wonderful and hopefully we'll be able to make the next post as fabulous as this one turned out.  Thanks for the comment - Love it!

 

Lenn,

No worries.  Like I said, everyone is entitled to their opinion and to express them. We respect all!  Thanks for your concern as well as your comments.

Excellent post.  Supply and demand, real estate style....

Lisa and Robert - I thought Morgan Freeman was drivi......oh, that wasn't it was Miss Daisy.  But there is a point to that.  I typically have agreed with Lenn when we have ended up commenting on the same posts, but here I find myself parting, company and agreeing.

With the exception of the stock market which is still trying to figure out why they ever decided to fund sub prime through public offering, all of your factors have merit in driving different parts of the country and different types of purchases.  In areas where prices are dropping (I prefer to think of them as correcting) Lenn's point is dead on accurately proven since sales rise.  In areas where a significantly mild winter has been a dominant feature this year more housing changed hands.  Rates are low (though they were better a year and a half ago) and in areas where income ans job stability is good this is translatable.  The key is that too many of us in this business are trying to use the last three or four years as a baseline and call it normal.  It wasn't.  Compare the market today to a 20 or 30 year average baseline and things look rosier overall.  Factor in the growth in the ranks of the REALTOR and mortgage brokerage industries and we start to come into today's landscape.  We have an industry that is stabilizing to long term norms and a lot more hands trying to work it.  I think we are seeing that correct itself too, though sadly it is at the loss of our brothers and sisters who have left real estate and moved on.

Was this like an Extreme Blog Makeover?.....and I thought it was great the first time!

Love the post.  My clients expect me to make predictions.  The news media called last week and wanted me to say what the local housing market will be like this year.  So many things could happen I had to say: if this happens then that will happen etc.  It is all a delicate balance and just one aspect of the local economy there are so many interdependances.

Chris - Thanks for the read and comment.  We tried to show that homes sell no matter what.

Terry - Wow! Very well thought out comment.  Thanks for stopping by to read our post.

Rich - Thanks for commenting.  We want to get super-duper good at this blogging.  It's the future!

Teresa - We're so honored that you commented on our post in such a positive way.  We love your posts!  Thanks so much for reading and leaving a contract.

Lisa & Robert-

I love this. My PB just shared that while last year was the "worst " we've had in 10 years, the top agent did 150 mil in volume and the lowest of the top 100 were averaging 12-15 mil. The business and the buyers/ sellers are out there. Great post : )

PS- Congratulations on your STAR. It's SOOOOOO Shiny ! !

Hi Kelli,

Thanks for reading our post and commenting.  We love the star too!

 

Hi Lisa and Robert,

 The Market is driven by a lot of factors, mainly affordability, Home prices and mortgage costs(rates).

We live in a now society too, many buyers see their dream house in a magazine, and say lets buy a home. First time home buyers want to get settled in and start a family, retiree's want to downsize, families grow and need a larger home, job transferrers, etc.

If your market is flat, it possible the local economy is effecting home sales, in my experience there's always a buyer for a well priced home(motivated Seller).

In a down market area, Sellers seldom like to lose equity and sell below their purchase price, so if you see a 10 to 15% market shift, that effects a sellers position on selling. Then listing inventory builds and buyers become slow to respond thinking they have lots to choose from and are in no hurry....unless they're a perceived bargain. Remember many of these buyer also have a home to sell, and wonder how they can buy another home without selling their's first.

Explain to you sellers what's happening in the market, price will always prevail in a flat or buyers market.

Stay fine tunned and keep up todate with your Real Estate Training, so you're always focused on your business.Staying in front of the market trend always helps. The Market will always change, so be ready for it, many areas are rebounding nicely, watch for changes in your area too .

Cheers, have an awesome day!

Fred Carver www.fredcarver.com

Hi Fred,

Thanks for taking time to read or Blog but by your comment, I think you  may have missed the point of the message here.  We weren't asking for help we were just stating a point to the public that several issues drive the market and that the key issue is the need for a home.  Perhaps you thought this was a Members post looking for suggestions?  We didn't state that we were in a flat Buyer's market at all.  Thanks for your comment just the same and best of luck to you in your business.

unfortunately, the media is high on that list!!!!!