Real Estate Market: Move-In Ready, Fixer, or Tear Down?
If it’s a buyer’s market, where are all the buyers? This is the question that I, a real-estate buff with a house on the market, am awakened by in the middle of the night. And with inventory still bloated, I’m sure I’m not alone.
That question begs a few more:
Who’s to blame? It’s the greedy lenders who caused this mess. Or the irresponsible buyers. Or the corrupt appraisers. Or the flippers. Or the developers. Or the agents. Or the media. Or the Feds. Or, or, or….
When will it end? Predictions range from as sunny as January to as gloomy as 2010–at the earliest. How bad will it be? A 5% reduction in median price overall? Or will it be closer to 30%?
However it happened, and whenever it will end, Forbes has some suggestions on how to solve the problem, including a quote on how not to solve it from Redfin’s own Glenn Kelman. Regarding the recent federal interest rate cut, Glenn says, “Artificially stimulating demand is what got us into trouble in the first place.”
And if you’re reading this in the middle of the night, lying awake, thinking about your home for sale, here are some brighter takes on the current market:
- Forbes says the condo and A-class rental markets are still healthy in Seattle.
- The National Association of Realtors predicts Seattle will continue to be a “bright light.”
- Meltdown and all, 2007 is still the 5th best year on record.
- The more dire the news the better the headlines, but perhaps those headlines won’t seem so insightful from an historic viewpoint.
As for you hard-knock I’m-not-an-optimist-I’m-a-realist types, you can always hang with The Tim.
