“True Vulnerability” Lies In High Prices
The Journal News reports from New York. “The median price of a single-family house declined last quarter in Westchester County for the first time in nearly 12 years, and further price declines can be expected early this year, the Westchester-Putnam MLS said yesterday. Buyer resistance to relentlessly escalating prices finally broke through the market in 2006, the MLS concluded in its quarterly report.”
“Inventories rose and sales dropped for every type of housing in Westchester and Putnam in the fourth quarter of 2006, year over year. Westchester’s median house price of $630,000 was down 3.4 percent from a year earlier. Condominium median prices dropped by 2.3 percent to $375,000. Year-end inventories of all housing types grew by 20.9 percent in Westchester and 14.9 percent in Putnam.”
“Many sellers today are demanding prices that their neighbors had obtained during home sales of a year earlier, said P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester-Putnam Board of Realtors. In the meantime, some buyers ‘think there are fire sales going on,’ he said. ‘They’re waiting each other out,’ he added.”
“Clare Santora said she put her three-bedroom raised ranch in Cortlandt on sale in late September for $469,900. She has since dropped the price to $440,000. One buyer backed out of a deal in the fall, she said.”
“‘Most of the problem I’m having is people think the taxes are too high,’ said Santora. With the state STAR tax-relief program, the taxes are $8,900, she said.”
“Agent Cathy Duff-Poritzky said sales strategies have changed. ‘It’s not 2005 or 2004, when things were flying off the shelves. I think it’s a very normal market,’ she said.”
“Nicholas Misch, an associate broker in Yorktown Heights, said buyers are waiting on the sidelines for now. ‘Obviously the market’s lost a lot of steam. It’s a good thing,’ he said.”
“The good news is that the Lower Hudson Valley hasn’t experienced the overconstruction of new housing that has led to boom-and-bust cycles in areas such as Florida, California and Nevada, the report said. The region’s ‘true vulnerability’ lies in the high prices that housing commands.”
The Republican from Massachusetts. “Real estate is considered a somewhat reliable investment: homeowners expect to buy low and sell higher, but the equation isn’t foolproof.”
“Consider, for example, the fate of homeowners who are forced to sell a house purchased in the midst of a real estate boom that later went bust. They’re faced with the predicament of having bought high, and being forced to sell for lower than the balance on their loan.”
“With the median price of a single-family home increasing annually for 12 years, many people who were priced out of the market were enticed in with attractive loan offers including adjustable-rate and interest-only mortgages. Unfortunately, for many it was a ticket to a foreclosure auction.”
“Foreclosure petitions soared nearly 70 percent in the Bay State in 2006, capping the end of the worst year for the state’s housing market in over a decade, according to figures compiled by The Warren Group. And foreclosures are expected to climb again in 2007.”
“It’s a phenomenon that seems to occur every decade or so, and, for many Massachusetts homeowners, the time is now.”
The Daily Democrat from New Hampshire. “Dickinson Development Corp.’s waterfront plans are built on a foundation of high-end residential housing units expected to sell for a much greater amount than the current Dover market sees.”
“The current draft of the proposed development still includes the roughly 180 residential units, but their makeup has changed and the price has gone up. The plan now includes townhomes, condos and flats, which will range in price from $379,000 to $700,000.”
“During an interview at Foster’s Daily Democrat last week, Mark Dickinson, company president, said the condos would start in the $400,000 range but during a phone interview today Dickinson said the price was $379,000. Dickinson said the earlier reporting of figures was incorrect.”
“‘The residential pricing of $265 per square foot is a reasonable estimate, but one subject to considerable deviation,’ the August report said. ‘This is because, despite a thorough investigation of the local and comparable markets, only relatively indirect market comparables with prices ranging well above and below the estimated level were uncovered.’”
“The city’s consultant’s report noted that should pre-selling the units not achieve the targeted prices, ‘the development could be delayed or abandoned with the loss only of up-front risk capital.’”
“According to the city’s assessing office, the average assessed value of condominiums in the city is increasing, but has yet to top $200,000. The most current data comes from 2007, where the average condominium rings in at $175,326. Consultant Barry Abramson’s report notes Dickinson’s condo prices are ‘well above the prior top of the market in Dover.’”
“President Mark Dickinson agrees there is currently nothing comparable in the city of Dover. ‘We are definitely creating a market,’ Dickinson said.”
“Dickinson’s report calls into question the quality of the construction. ‘We consider the pro forma’s construction cost estimates, especially for the residential component, at $100 to $118 per square foot of gross habitable building area, to be lower than we would expect,’ the report said. ‘This raises a question about the quality of construction.’”
Also from New York:
‘The Greater Hudson Valley Multiple Listing Service reported earlier this month that the median price of a Rockland County house was $475,000, down 7 percent. Tuesday’s report said Westchester’s price decline could be blamed on buyer resistance to the long-climbing prices. It said sales were hampered by sellers’ reluctance to realize that circumstances have changed. The report predicted that prices would continue to fall in the first several months of 2007, then stabilize.’
‘HARTFORD, Conn. – The state Department of Banking on Tuesday suspended the lending licenses of an embattled mortgage firm that is under investigation for failing to provide funding for customers whose mortgage loans had already closed.’
‘The company previously said it would voluntarily stop lending in Connecticut while the matter was pending. Tuesday’s order puts that agreement in writing, state banking officials said. ‘It formalizes an informal agreement,’ said James Heckman, a spokesman for the Banking Department.’
‘Mortgage Lenders Network bills itself as one of the nation’s top subprime lenders. The privately held company has said it has a portfolio of $17.8 billion.Mortgage Lenders has blamed its problems on increased defaults and the faltering housing market.’
“The good news is that the Lower Hudson Valley hasn’t experienced the overconstruction of new housing that has led to boom-and-bust cycles in areas such as Florida, California and Nevada, the report said. The region’s ‘true vulnerability’ lies in the high prices that housing commands.”
The overconstruction problem is easily solved. You simply need to convince buyers and lenders that prices will continue going up by over 10% a year, and the overconstruction can then continue. Easy as pie.
How do you convince everyone that real estate prices will always go up, at least in the long term? I guess that is where the $40m NAR ad campaign comes into play.
GS, you’re obviously an intelligent, well-spoken guy and all, but… did you have any kind of a life before TheHousingBubbleBlog???
Yes. And you may notice I have recently cut back the length of my posts. I got the patch…
No complaints here, just wondering where you find the time!
I dig GS’s posts also and some of them take some research time .tj & the bears ,are you trying to give GS a day off ?
Another thing I want to bring up ,(which we don’t talk about alot ) ,is how Ben produces well written articles everyday without fail . Ben’s a humble guy in my view .
No doubt about it… Ben’s THE MAN!!!
p.s.: GS is the Energizer Bunny.
I’ve lived in that area, older properties actually have land around them. Some towns have minimum lot sizes of 0.5 to 1 acre. And for the most part the region was already developed out long ago leaving mostly backfill lots. Most of the new crazy building took place in Dutchess county above Putnam where there was still farmland to be destroyed.
If you are in the “right” part of town they even have 2 acre zoning in parts of northern Westchester. In those regions there is well water, so any denser wouldn’t work. I’m sure the residents in those places want to keep it that way.
Putnam can still be a reasonable commute to the City (beginning to stretch it). Dutchess is just crazy if you want to commute to the city.
Re: Fosters Daily Democrat article.
There’s no way they are going to get 400k for a condo in Dover. My parents live there and it is nice but if I’m right, ‘waterfront’ means on Dover point on the Cocheco river.
My Mom mentioned this planned development to me a while back. I didn’t know about the pricing. I told her that I thought they never would get built b/c of the bubble but that pricing just adds fuel to the fire.
but they are “creating a market” HA….
Novasold,
My Mom still lives in Portsmouth (NH). She told me many long-time Portsmouth families have fled to Dover over the last decade after increasing taxes drove them off the Seacoast. I hadn’t personnally been in Dover myself for about 20 years but I was wondering if it had experienced any facelifts since I remember it that might help it grow.
Downtown Portsmouth, in the 70s, was dying before it was revitalized…..all blamed on the little Newington Mall at the time. So I was wondering if there was any downtown development in Dover that would allow someone to get excited over more than just riverfront.
Riverfront SFHs w/1+ acres in Baldwinsville, NY still only get in the $200s (while other newer homes are priced in $400s and $500s) There’s also more going on in B-ville than I remember in Dover, NH. Still Dover is only 30 min drive to seacoast and w/in hour to NH/ME resort areas. That’s value added.
Those condos are a project I’d like to keep posted on if you don’t mind updating from time to time. I found it interesting that the construction quality was already being questioned.
CarrieAnn:
Not too much new in Dover. No major facelift except for turning the old industrial buildings right on the river into condos (bet they got flooded last year.)
Dover has not been revitalized in the same way the Portsmouth has but is a reasonably good commuter location.
I’m happy to keep tabs on Dover as I hope to move back to NE in the next 9 months or so
–
““True Vulnerability” Lies In High Prices”
To a bubblehead sky is the limit. He, or she, can’t imagine prices going down, or stay down for long. They “know” the mantra of long-term.
Jas
Hey guys can we clarify who are the “bubbleheads” according to HBB.
I always thought (probably incorrectly) bubbleheads were the minority of people who believed there was a bubble which was not accepted thought by the majority of people. Or does the term refer to the people who believe prices will continously move higher such as Jas uses above (which I have seen a few times also). Or is there some third definition.
I just want to make sure I am using properly accepted “bubble” terminololgy. Thanks.
–
Those who jump into stocks and real estate during a clearly observable bubble period and then they stay in.
Jas
I always thought “bubblehead” meant the first thing you listed too - i.e., someone who believes that prices are unsustainably high relative to fundamentals.
Since “bubblehead” isn’t in ordinary dictionaries, I guess we have two definitions based on usage. I vote for “bubblehead” meaning bears, not bulls, because it seems to me I have more often seen it used to mean bears.
I agree because the bulls don’t believe in the bubble so to call them bubbleheads is a little confusing.
Let’s just pick some other term — to most people outside of this context, “bubblehead” means “stupid” — i.e. “airhead”.
“President Mark Dickinson agrees there is currently nothing comparable in the city of Dover. ‘We are definitely creating a market,’ Dickinson said.”
I just love that comment. A developer creating a market! Are not markets created by buyers and sellers? Has he forgot Econ 101? Or maybe he never took Econ 101?
Yeah thats probably it.
Bubblefucius say:
A Market may be created by one.
But it takes two to get sale done.
You said it Rainman .in fact, it was a team effort in my view . Look at how many people made money on one RE transaction .
Did anybody notice how high RE transaction costs went up in recent years ?
YAY! Bubblefucius is back!!! Now if we could just get Bubbles The Clown to grace us with an appearance?
“With the state STAR tax-relief program, the taxes are $8,900, she said.”
$8,900 on a $440,000 house? And that’s with a tax-relief program in place? LOL! Those are Florida tax rates, and at least Florida doesn’t have a state income tax on top of their high property taxes.
Try $4,000 or maybe less, which is what we’d have to pay where we live now for a house assessed at that price. Given that assessments lag reasonable selling prices here, the tax would probably be somewhat lower.
I was going to slam this also. It’s an amazing amount of money considering that most of the folks in the Hudson River Valley either commute to NYC for work (wow the tolls, gas and insurance!) or they work at the nearest home depot or the beautiful state prison complex.
What a great deal! I can’t wait to move back to the state of my birth
it’s for the children and good schools
Why is it that so many exorbitant, taxpayer-funded schemes are billed as being For The Children?
funny thing is aot of these people still send their little ones to private school as well. and 8900 is not obscene in these parts you can pay that for a ranch in nassau county in a so-so area
it is just insane, where does all this money go?
Three of my wife’s nephews go to these schools. I’m not impressed with any of them.
Bill in Carolina—
$8900 on a $440k house is cheap compared to Onandaga County in upstate NY where people are paying $10k in annual taxes for new $199k homes in Manlius.
Check out these in B-ville: (Tax info on bottom of pg 2) “Used” Homes in $200s….Taxes in $8000s-$9000s/annum
http://www.cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=164347
$194k …..$9800 taxes (built in 2005)
http://www.cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=162064
$270k….$8300/annually
http://www.cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=160159
$224k…..$7600k/annually
http://www.cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=164618
$260k…$8300k/annually
Hey Glenda…can you share any B-ville sales stats with us?
“Most of the problem I’m having is people think the taxes are too high,” said [wannabe seller] Santora.
I agree with all of you that the taxes are outrageous, but I don’t agree with Santora that that’s “most of the problem.” Most of the problem is that a speculative bubble put prices way above landlords’ breakeven point. I wonder how little Santora paid for her 3BR (now->) $440K house. The price sounds reasonable only to coastal Californians.
“Many sellers today are demanding prices that their neighbors had obtained during home sales of a year earlier, said P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester-Putnam Board of Realtors. In the meantime, some buyers ‘think there are fire sales going on,’ he said. ‘They’re waiting each other out,’ he added.”
What will likely happen is the sellers will realize last year’s prices ain’t going to happen and buyers will realize that big fire sale price cuts aren’t going to happen and sales activity will resume as life goes on, with prices staying flat for 3-4 years. This is the most likely scenario in the fancy towns of Westchester County amyway, in my opinion. Prices could drop 10% from their highs in such towns, but more likely 5%.
After 3-4 years of inflation, the flat prices will be effectively tantamount to perhaps 20% price slashes in real dollars, not an insignificant savings on an expensive home.
Not the way it works - I think… Without realistic prices there will be no buyers. Who made the rule that there are these ‘buyers’ always at the ready?
not true, i work with someone who bought in westchester back in the late 1980’s and was upside down on his home until a few years ago. and he lives in a good part of westchester, not yonkers. and somewhere there was a link to an old NY Times article from around 1991 that said that the downturn was over and westchester would soon flatten out. and of course values in westchester went down for a few more years.
There are 12 new condo buildings in Riverdale that just scream out, “this whole area is toast”.
the one good thing about the new NYC buildings is dishwashers. a lot of the older buildings don’t allow them because of electricity concerns.
Riverdale is a nice area, may have to check them out since wife and i may buy a new place in 5 years or so
We bought in 1991 and values stayed flat - they definitely did not go down. Not in Bedford.
what about values from 1989 or so?
NYC data is pretty good on zillow but not on the the burbs. how do you know values stayed flat on a price per sq foot basis? back then the only way to know was so so just bought or sold and the price is the same so values are flat
Wes.
smart buying…Bedford has got to be one of the wealthiest areas of Westchester.
“‘Most of the problem I’m having is people think the taxes are too high,’ said Santora. With the state STAR tax-relief program, the taxes are $8,900, she said.”
when all the newbie buyers piled in a few years back the taxes were a lot lower and no one had any experience with property taxes. since all the schools are locally managed by town and not at the county level the unions have the towns by the throat. every year as retirement benefits go up taxes go up because they are paid first and then all the good stuff like after school programs, school buses and AP classes. and of course you need after school programs since the parents work and someone needs to look after the kids after school so it’s like a tax deductible babysitting service
Every year there is the usual union shakedown where they threaten to shut the schools down unless there is a 10% tax increase or otherwise there is bankruptcy because some insignificant part of the budget went up. every year stupid parents vote OK because they love their children and they moved away from evil NYC for good schools since everyone knows westchester schools are some of the best in the US.
meanwhile in the NYC burbs cops start out at $90,000 a year, teachers make around $80,000 a year on average and their retirement pay is close to the regular salaries and the medical benefits are the best with almost no copays.
at some point the taxes went up so much that would be buyers ask themselves if it’s worth it since you can still find schools in NYC just as good for half the taxes.
some fear terrorist
I fear muni unions
one reason southern states are destiniations
less union sht
The union stranglehold on the northern cities is not to be ignored, but is nevertheless strangely tolerated. Everything said about NYC applies here in Chicago too, only at slightly lower levels. City properties were reassessed last year and this fall a lot of owners might get a big property tax surprise in the mail. Plus, the teacher’s union contract is up this summer and the city elections are in two months. I reckon by this time next year the stranglehold won’t be so easy to ignore around here.
NYC property taxes are pretty low compared to the burbs here. 1/2 to 1/3 the burbs rate for the same house. used to be you moved to the burbs to escape crime and for a lower cost of living with the longer commute being a trade off. Now you move back to NYC for the same reasons because it’s cheaper to live in NYC than the burbs.
Unions are the pimple on the ass of progress.
You only need take a look at San Diego to see the future of municipal government. It is interesting that our neighbour Orange County just to the north filed Bankruptcy in 1994 and it appears San Diego may be next. San Diego has a giant underfunded retirement program and local officials refuse to disclose their books and records. In the mean time, the County got a big reprieve from increased tax revenue arising from the bubble, but this appears to be drying up quickly. Our police services, schools and infrastructure are at third world standards these days. Too bad, San Diego used to be such a beautiful city…
few years ago i did a paper for school and used SD as fodder. Back in the mid 1990’s they were hiring new people, giving huge raises to current employees and raising retirement benefits. the reason was they needed to hire the best people.
I also learned that if you retire from the US Army, go to the california NG and work for the state you can get 3 or more pensions at once after you build up the retirement credits everywhere.
“meanwhile in the NYC burbs cops start out at $90,000 a year”
I might have misunderstood what you’re saying, but for the record; ANY NYC cop newhire starts out at $29,000. I shit you not.
Soprano Subprime lurking in the background.
http://www.jibjab.com/jokebox/jokebox/jibjab/id/420659/jokeid/100971
So many RE markets are subject to prices going down because the prices went beyond inflation and local incomes .
The REIC borrowed into the future with this run-up in prices ,so it was bound to come to a screeching halt . Did the REIC /NAR think that they could continue to have faulty lending with low down unqualified borrowers with teaser rates to keep the party going ?
Usually when you buy a stock you don’t have to qualify .Extra income is usually put into stocks . With real estate its a conditional sale on qualifying where you are often times putting up 30% or more of you income in payments monthly .
The only way in which the REIC could of kept the party going was to have faulty lending (buying on margin ),which is not qualifying for a long term loan ,its a short term gamble . The myth by cheerleaders that justified this run-up was that “Real estate always went up” (a lie ),”We are running out of land ” (a lie )”, “You can’t afford not to buy ” ,(a lie ) . Can you imagine what would happen to a stock market agents if they made those kind of statements ?
Markets make correction ,but this RE run-up was to much ,just to much.
All the people WITH the houses think all this runup is just great! They bitch cause their taxes doubled in the past few years but what the heck, they didnt pay much for their homes.
My question is where are the rest of us supposed to live? Where are their children supposed to live? Average starting salaries for recent college grads are now HALF of what they were in the 90’s here on Long Island. There are NO good jobs to be had here anymore. On Long Island it was just released that we created 1,500 jobs in 2006. My company alone let about 300 people off last year!
Ive saved by working 2-3 jobs and living frugaly. Yes, I CAN afford to buy a home here… but the taxes are all over 10k on the houses.
I can’t do that and i make about 20k over the average salary here in Suffolk County. Arent people going to get tired of these huge mortgages and high taxes eventually?
-just venting here on the Island
Wrongo! I am a home owner (and have been since 1992), and I don’t like price run ups one bit. I don’t like the tax implications, and I don’t have any use for “equity” in my house. The only benchmark that matters to me is having the mortgage paid off. Price run ups in housing are a no win situation for everyone, even if you rent, higher prices pressure your landlord if not yourself.
I’ve also moved 4 times in the last 15 years, so, no I didn’t get any real price break on my current place either. Every place I moved to had price run ups just before I got there and none after - oh well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I’m still ahead of renting because I was in non bubble areas (MI, NC and CO) and because I had generous relocation packages
that paid for my REIC comissions.
I agree with you climber that the run -up wasn’t good for long term homeowners . The fast run-up was for the short-term flippers/speculators ,equity extractors ,the REIC and builders .
Regular people that are living in houses long term ,and don’t want to move ,don’t want the housing expenses like taxes to be eating them out of house and home .The assumption that everybody would want to live off equity withdraws ,or would want to move in order to get their paper-gains was wrong .
The new RE capital gains tax exclusion did help with the concept of the 2 year real estate investment plan and it did encourage Baby Boomers to sell to cash out without tax liability .
you need to get one of them county jobs, that’s where the money is
Liz-
Welcome to the world of diminished expectations.
The US empire is dead.
We’re a now 3rd world debtor nation of the ultra-rich at the top and middle and lower class tax slaves at the bottom.
But WTF…
Just give the kids a new video game and a box of Twinkies to keep’em brain dead and fat, ’cause their never gonna leave Mommy and Daddy’s house, that is, if they’ve still got one once this housing debacle unwinds over the next decade.
The Daily Democrat from New Hampshire. “Dickinson Development Corp.’s waterfront plans are built on a foundation of high-end residential housing units expected to sell for a much greater amount than the current Dover market sees.”
“The current draft of the proposed development still includes the roughly 180 residential units, but their makeup has changed and the price has gone up. The plan now includes townhomes, condos and flats, which will range in price from $379,000 to $700,000.”
Whoooweee…$700k for a condo in Dover, NH!!!!!!!!
Fookin’ place is nothin’ more than a Wal-Mart retail center
with attendant level pay scales.
Zip for public transport-zip for cultural stuff, save for runnin’ over to UNH in Gorham.
But then have a drink to entertain yourself, and you’ll be road block fodder for an OUI bust by the local constablery.
Ho-hum…
Just more of the same of ‘ole residential development disfunction.
Not only all that, but you get a piece of crap crackerbox: This raises a question about the quality of construction.
“Many sellers today are demanding prices that their neighbors had obtained during home sales of a year earlier, said P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester-Putnam Board of Realtors. In the meantime, some buyers ‘think there are fire sales going on,’ he said”
Typical realtwhore; he purposely misstates the facts. Buyers do NOT expect ‘fire sales’ at all.
We ARE, however, low-balling like crazy because we’ve perceived the faint aroma of DESPERATION crawling in over many sellers and therefore we’re preying on the weak and infirm. Our turn, baby.
Just because you ‘drop’ $15k on a house that is overpriced by at least $150k doesn’t suddenly make it a ‘deal’. There WILL be lots of fire sales tho I’m sure and buyers DO look forward to those. We see that REALITY has decided to (slowly) reassert itself. About time.
Til now, sensible buyers stood aside in wonder; “how the f*k can you make $30.000 a year and get into a 750k home?. Well, now we’re starting to see the answer; Anyone can get into them, the hard part is STAYING in them.
Anyway, I believe I express the thoughts of MANY potential buyers when I say,
” Mr/Mrs/Ms Seller; Here’s my super lowball offer for your home, # 352 on my list of 27,000 in this area. I really hope you DON’T take it tho, because it was really only meant to offend you and piss you off. I would NEVER pay that much for this piece o’ crap!. Besides, if you don’t take it now I get to come back in 2 months and make you an even LOWER offer then. Your pain is truly my pleasure.
Buyers can wait, you see.
Can sellers?.
“Many sellers today are demanding prices that their neighbors had obtained during home sales of a year earlier, said P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester-Putnam Board of Realtors. In the meantime, some buyers ‘think there are fire sales going on,’ he said”
Typical realtwhore; he purposely misstates the facts. Buyers do NOT expect ‘fire sales’ at all.
We ARE, however, low-balling like crazy because we’ve perceived the faint aroma of DESPERATION crawling in over many sellers and therefore we’re preying on the weak and infirm. Our turn, baby.
Just because you ‘drop’ $15k on a house that is overpriced by at least $150k doesn’t suddenly make it a ‘deal’. There WILL be lots of fire sales tho I’m sure and buyers DO look forward to those. We see that REALITY has decided to (slowly) reassert itself. About time.
Til now, sensible buyers stood aside in wonder; “how the f*k can you make $30.000 a year and get into a 750k home?. Well, now we’re starting to see the answer; Anyone can get into them, the hard part is STAYING in them.
Anyway, I believe I express the thoughts of MANY potential buyers when I say,
” Mr/Mrs/Ms Seller; Here’s my super lowball offer for your home, # 352 on my list of 27,000 in this area. I really hope you DON’T take it tho, because it was really only meant to offend you and piss you off. I would NEVER pay that much for this piece o’ crap!. Besides, if you don’t take it now I get to come back in 2 months and make you an even LOWER offer then. Your pain is truly my pleasure.
Buyers can wait, you see.
Can sellers?.
“Many sellers today are demanding prices that their neighbors had obtained during home sales of a year earlier, said P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester-Putnam Board of Realtors. In the meantime, some buyers ‘think there are fire sales going on,’ he said”
Typical realtwhore; he purposely misstates the facts. Buyers do NOT expect ‘fire sales’ at all.
We ARE, however, low-balling like crazy because we’ve perceived the faint aroma of DESPERATION crawling in over many sellers and therefore we’re preying on the weak and infirm. Our turn, baby.
Just because you ‘drop’ $15k on a house that is overpriced by at least $150k doesn’t suddenly make it a ‘deal’. There WILL be lots of fire sales tho I’m sure and buyers DO look forward to those. We see that REALITY has decided to (slowly) reassert itself. About time.
Til now, sensible buyers stood aside in wonder; “how the hell can you make $30.000 a year and get into a 750k home?. Well, now we’re starting to see the answer; Anyone can get into them, the hard part is STAYING in them.
Anyway, I believe I express the thoughts of MANY potential buyers when I say,
” Mr/Mrs/Ms Seller; Here’s my super lowball offer for your home, # 352 on my list of 27,000 in this area. I really hope you DON’T take it tho, because it was really only meant to offend you and piss you off. I would NEVER pay that much for this piece o’ crap!. Besides, if you don’t take it now I get to come back in 2 months and make you an even LOWER offer then. Your pain is truly my pleasure.
Buyers can wait, you see.
Can sellers?.