Price drops driving real estate sales spike

Buyers remain worried about financing, further price declines

Home prices vs. sales image via Shutterstock.

Growth in home sales appears to be driven by the willingness of sellers to lower their prices rather than a broad-based increase in demand and buyer confidence, according to an analysis by real estate data and analytics firm Radar Logic Inc.
In "Housing is a Buyer's Market," the company analyzes price and sales trends in the nation's 25 largest metro areas.
Sales of nondistressed properties increased last year, but that increase was accompanied by a decline in prices -- lowering the price spread between distressed and nondistressed sales, the report said.

"Insofar as sellers are willing to accept lower offers, housing is currently a buyer's market," the report said. "Unfortunately, difficulty in accessing financing and concerns over inventory are preventing buyers from entering the market in force."
Although the National Association of Realtors reported that there was only a 6.1 months' supply of existing homes for sale in January -- the lowest level of inventory since 2006 -- that doesn't take into account vacant homes held off the market, homes securing delinquent mortgages and in the foreclosure process, and homes with underwater mortgages, the report said.

Shy Shinalt
Keller Williams Tyler
http://www.shyshinalt.com/

Are open houses useful or a waste of time? Yes

http://www.shyshinalt.com/ 

I love it when I happen upon an open house in my neighborhood. I’ll wander in, check out the kitchen and bathrooms – wow, that’s a lot of avocado green – and grab a cookie on my way out.

You might be thinking, You just answered the question: open houses are a waste of time. Not so fast. Even though I come across as a dreaded lookie-loo, I know two families interested in moving to my neighborhood.

Yes, I’m nosy and enjoy checking out neighbors’ homes, too, but when I visit one that might work for my friends, I’ll e-mail the address and MLS number.

It’s not for everyone

Not everyone likes the idea of people parading through their home on a Sunday afternoon. And it takes a lot of effort to execute an open house, from cleaning and staging to moving your family somewhere else for three hours. You and your Texas REALTOR® need to come up with a comprehensive marketing plan specific to your situation, with or without open houses.

But you never know

One of the biggest arguments in favor of holding an open house is that it increases the visibility of your home. Because you never know where your buyers will come from. They could attend the open house, be the clients of a REALTOR® who visits your open house, or get an e-mail from me asking, Do you guys like avocado green?

Shy Shinalt

Keller Williams Tyler Texas

http://www.shyshinalt.com/