Is the real estate market getting better? If you listen to the National Association of REALTORS chief economist, Lawrence Yun, we are past the bottom of the market, and the rest of the year looks great for the real estate market. Well, I am waiting for the numbers to turn around. It is good to be positive, but that positivity should have SOME basis. Its like saying gas prices won’t get any higher, and they will be coming down the rest of the year.
The new catch phrase in the real estate establishment is “all real estate is local”. You don’t look at the national weather; you look at the local weather- duh. While the the official REALTOR news seems to, somehow, indicate some other result, local stats indicate we are still in a down market. Sellers are going to have to come to grips with declining prices (median price in our local market down 14.2% year to date through April, from 2007, and total sales off 18.2% for that period). Check out the most recent comprehensive Home Sales Report from MAAR. Buyers seem to have a good grip of the situation and are making offers that reflect market conditions.
To drill down to even more local numbers, see page 3 of the report for area details. Most of the dramatic drops in median prices seem to reflect foreclosure/REO sales. If you have foreclosed or bank owned properties in your neighborhood, they DO impact the values of surrounding homes.