Throughout the history of the world, those charged with the duty of describing market conditions have been reluctant (or ignorant) about discussing price as a cause. Finally, the vice-president and chief economist of C.A.R. mentions that price is an issue!
I had this on twitter but let’s play it for the bubbleinfo audience too:
First, the C.A.R. president wimps out with the usual reasons:
“While the demand for housing was up from February, the market is taking a hit from lower housing affordability compared to a year ago, which led to a decline in home sales from last year,” said C.A.R. President Kevin Brown. “Moreover, concerns over tighter lending standards and increased borrowing costs are also contributing factors to the sluggish market as they both negatively impact the bottom line of home buyers who obtain financing through mortgages.”
But then Leslie delivers a game-changer for all real estate spokespersons:
“While housing inventory has loosened since last year, it’s still below what’s considered typical in a normal market,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Many of the listings continue to be priced above what the market will bear and are not moving. As such, even with improved home prices over the past year, new listings are lagging because would-be sellers who have limited options on where to move are hesitant to put their properties on the market.”
Hooray for Leslie!
http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2014releases/march2014sales
“The best thing you as a real estate professional can do in this market is to encourage sellers who are not serious about selling their homes not to list. Don’t take a listing from someone on a hope,” Leslie Appleton-Young told a group of Inland mortgage brokers and agents in Rancho Cucamonga.
~ Sept 2007.
Excellent advice in any market.
This is a business – agents should be business-like and take listings they expect to sell.
Hope is a ship that sank.