The mainstream media is prone to look for anything wrong with the housing market, and they are known to manufacture it if they have to!

You’d think an article that begins with the headline above will include some ultra-high end cities like San Francisco or New York City, but it doesn’t.  Instead, it mostly names small towns in flyover states as places that could be in trouble someday.  The only two in California are Menifee and Bakersfield!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/50-housing-markets-turning-ugly-090000594.html

Number one on their list?  Peoria, Illinois!

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CNBC is usually the negativity leader, but thankfully in their article yesterday they did include one quote from a realtor (which is rare) and another from a buyer that sum up the general market conditions:

At an open house in Dallas on Sunday, a few dozen potential buyers toured a home listed at just under $1.4 million. The agent for the home said the market is still moving, but buyers are getting more picky.

“I definitely think it has softened a bit,” said Kelley McMahon a Dallas-area agent with Compass. “It’s not a seller’s market right now. Now is not the time for sellers to put out these crazy prices. Appraisals have gotten a lot harder, and buyers are a little more cautious. They’re more willing to take their time.”

McMahon said the concern is less about the overall health of the housing market, and more about the future of the economy.

“I think people are a little more cautious to pull the trigger, and I definitely think that people want to get through the election year, just kind of see what happens,” she added.

Dustin Collins and his wife toured the Dallas property while carrying their new baby. They are watching interest rates closely but don’t feel the pressure to move quickly, the way so many buyers did last year.

“For us, knowing that that kind of the frenzy is over, it’s more about finding the right house for us than paying too much for it,” Dustin said. “I feel like now houses are sitting a little longer, it just gives us a little more opportunity to find the house we want.”

Those sentiments describe a healthy environment where the price gap between the cream-puffs and the fixers is returning.  Buyers are taking their time, and passing on the fixers or demanding a better price on them, and yet are willing to pay the money for a turn-key property in a quality location.

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