Yesterday my wife asks "are we going to go look at any houses this weekend?" Huh....she hates looking at houses. Must be getting anxious again. I would have loved to tell her yes but there's practically nothing on the market worth looking at. There are hundreds of homes for sale that I would buy if the price was right, but it's not. The market is full of upside down owners and delusional sellers trying to get yesterday's prices. The few well priced REO's that are hitting the market are selling in a day or two. I showed her one last week that was really nice, in the area we like and was listed at a reasonable price. That house lasted 3 days.
I keep hearing from agents how great the market is. But the reasons for this sense of wellness are all not healthy ones. The homes that are selling are primarily REOs and shorts. The only reason there are multiple bids is because most of the buyers are trying to snag one of these (and there's not that many right now). So you have 500 buyers trying to buy 50 homes. And half of those buyeres wouldn't be able to buy a home if it were not for the low FHA requirements and the government tax credits. It's like the market is on life support and the government is keeping it alive with tax dollars.
Kinda makes you wonder, what next?
7 comments:
Not that I live by Z-estimates, but I'm noticing upticks for most of the properties I check up on to assess the general health of RE. Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
Patience will be rewarded.
X. Since I love your advice and insights, would you be willing to share the address of the property you mentioned? I would love to get more into your thinking
I totally agree, that home prices have not reached the bottom. It will sink much further.
"There are four items in place that are tricking people into calling a bottom, when in fact three of these items are temporary. The result is an artificial restriction of supply and artificial pumping of demand.
1) It’s the seasonally strongest buying season
2) There’s a foreclosure moratorium about to end
3) Federal tax credits offered for 1st time homebuyers
4) Historically low mortgage rates"
Read More:http://www.housingnewslive.com/articles/housing-bottom.php
Sorry OSA I didn't keep track of the address on that house I liked.
I saw the most ridiculous thing posted by a realtor this morning on one of the trulia threads. I just had to share with you guys. Here is a quote "You want to pick a Realtor who can help you with what area's rent for what and you want to look at what the homes were being sold for at the top of their market to get an idea of what you might want to expect in appreciation."
This realtor was actually suggesting to look back at peak prices so a real estate investor could get an idea of what to "EXPECT" in terms of appreciation. Expect????!?!?!
Unbelievable...
oh i almost forgot to mention... I'm not surprised that a realtor would say this but it was just quite striking that they would even stoop to telling people to EXPECT those peak prices again at some point... Sure maybe in 2030!!!!! Maybe!
I think I've given up looking seriously, at least for the time being. There are a few deals, but they are just that: few. Maybe this coming winter. Been saying that for 2 years now.
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