I feel like the housing market is getting worse

14 years ago

I am curious if anyone else thinks the housing market is getting worse instead of better? I live in Columbus, OH, which has been pretty recession proof in the past. We have a wide variety of indutry employers here. Housing was already one of the lowest in the nation. Anyway, I listed in March and the comps in my neighborhood just keep getting lower and lower and lower. I keep waiting for it to improve but I am not seeing an end in sight. How do you feel about your market?

Erin

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Comments (19)

gamecock43
14 years ago
I feel it has taken a good slump this past month. I just purchased my first home 6 months ago in Feb...and looking at the fresh new houses for sale in my price range and there is a lot more house for the same price on the market now.

I definitely have to fight off the feeling that I should have waited 6 more months before house hunting.

I am located in Savannah, GA
Linda
14 years ago
Things seem to have leveled in my area. We've had a flurry of bidding wars (entry level homes)and homes that seem to be selling a little faster than in the past. It appears we have hit bottom and are now in a more neutral market. (Hudson Valley NY)
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Mick Mick
14 years ago
I feel like things are improving in my area.
cordovamom
14 years ago
In my area homes under $250,000 are moving. Values aren't going up, but they seem to have stabilized in that price range. Homes over $250K are still seeing some slipping in prices and they stay on the market a lot longer. It appears as if first time home buyers are taking advantage of the tax credit.
mariend
14 years ago
Here in ND they cannot build enough apts/homes in certain areas due to oil fields. Minot is stable, not many homes for sale. Wiliston HOT with more businesses coming in--Tech jobs and Tech training... Bismarck stable
but then we have to deal with weather year around.
jane__ny
14 years ago
Linda 117 where are you located? I'm in Westchester County, where in the Hudson Valley are you?

Jane
terezosa / terriks
14 years ago
I work in a RE office in Oregon. Our sales are up, but prices are still down. I have seen multiple offers on well priced lower end homes - usually REOs. Prices are down overall, and the more expensive homes are not selling as well.
kaffine
14 years ago
Around here prices are still dropping but banks are starting to price houses to get multiple offers so they sell fast. The banks seem to have figured out it is better to start low and have a bidding war than start high and keep lowing the price every month. Normal sales it depends on how realistic the owner is about the price most don't want to admit that the price has dropped 50% since the peak. I don't think we have hit bottom yet but I don't expect prices to drop that much more either but it will be awhile before prices start going back up.
logic
14 years ago
In NJ things have picked up considerably. However the homes upward of the 700K range are still languishing on the market. Those under..especially around the 500K mark or so, that have been well maintained are selling fairly quickly.
I know someone who sold within a week of listing..first offer.

I understnad the same is true for a good portion of Nassau County in NY, as I have friends who are looking to buy in that area.
elle481
14 years ago
In Eastern Fairfield Co, CT, the under $450,00 price range that is priced right is still strong, but than other that it has been very slow. We seemed to have had a blip about a month ago when a homes in the over $450,000 range started to move again, but then things abruptly stalled. We've started to see a lot of buyers in the higher range really start to drop their price and it appears that the buyers are just sitting back and waiting until the prices come down to what they are ready to pay.
deegw
14 years ago
I was just thinking about this very topic today. Hubby was transferred to a resort area in South GA (31522). When our house sells (our current market is not too bad), he wants to buy right away. I think we should put our stuff in storage for 6 months or so and wait out the market. I've been trying to find some numbers/reports to back up my intuition.
chisue
14 years ago
Heck, the whole nation is in a slump, and expected to continue to stagnate at best for another year. If you need to sell, you need to beat the slide. List at your lowest price and get on with it. If you don't need to sell now, be prepared to wait a year. There's a whole boatload of REO's that haven't been disposed of yet.
ncrealestateguy
14 years ago
Dee,
The problem with waiting for another 6 months is that you know now what the variables are... you do not know what they will be in 6 months. During those 6 months of hoping that home prices may fall by another 1 or 2 %, but during that same time, inventory could drop, and interest rates will probably rise enough to wipe away any savings that you might make from the price reductions.
c9pilot
14 years ago
In Tampa Bay area, sales are up slightly, but prices are still sliding downward.
ncrealestateguy
14 years ago
Like most areas, Charlotte NC is seeing a slight increase in contracts from first time home buyers and investors.
My forecast is for Charlotte, like most of the rest of the Country, to see this "bump" end sometime sooner than later, and then the real crunch sets in... higher interest rates.
dreamgarden
14 years ago
chisue-"Heck, the whole nation is in a slump, and expected to continue to stagnate at best for another year. If you need to sell, you need to beat the slide. List at your lowest price and get on with it. If you don't need to sell now, be prepared to wait a year. There's a whole boatload of REO's that haven't been disposed of yet."

I agree. Some of the largest banks in the country are sitting on a mountain of "phantom inventory" hidden from the eyes of analysts and investors, and distorting the market's landscape. I have a friend who recently sold a condo in Myrtle Beach. She listed it at $239 and it sold for $175k after 6 months on the market. She considers herself lucky.

Another area I've been keeping an eye on are the commercial real estate markets. If you have to rent until you buy another place, this is something to keep in mind. No one wants to have to move out of a rental because your landlord was foreclosed on.

Next economic crisis looms: Commercial real estate defaults
Kevin G. Hall : McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON-Two years after fissures in the residential housing market gave way to a national collapse of home prices and sales, experts warn the next shoe to drop is the commercial real-estate market, bringing more woes to the battered economy.

Thousands of commercial mortgages valued at hundreds of billions of dollars are approaching a renewal date. By some estimates, two out of every three will no longer meet the original loan conditions and won't be able to refinance. And with prices for commercial properties expected to plunge, a vicious cycle may unfold much as it has in the nation's housing market.

This is significant, but small compared to the over $1.1 trillion losses ultimately expected on residential mortgage loans and securities. Commercial mortgage losses will be a significant problem for many mid-sized and small banks," said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's Economy.com. "In fact, most of the banking failures that occur in the next several years will be due to losses on commercial mortgage loans."

Links that might be useful:

Phantom Homes
www.forbes.com/2009/07/02/housing-foreclosure-
inventory-markets-economy-financial.html

Next economic crisis looms: Commercial real estate defaults
www.mcclatchydc.com/politics/v-print/story/67187.html

U.S. housing misery poised to enter new phase
www.reuters.com/article/wtUSInvesting
News/idUSTRE55P51I20090626?sp=true

Global property slide may be long
www.reuters.com/article/GlobalRealEstate09
/idUSTRE55O6IQ20090625
xamsx
14 years ago
Closed June sales posted a 15 year high in this area, although prices were flat from June of 2008. Pending May sales are up 29% from last year.

We never had a bubble so we never had a bust. Home prices have been rising slowly but steadily. We just turned to a neutral market last November (from a seller's market), and if I reading the numbers correctly we are back to a (weak) seller's market (under 5 months of inventory).

This area has cheap homes. The $8K first time buyer incentive took a fairly good market and heated it up. Whether that means people are moving up or not remains to be seen.
cordovamom
14 years ago
I know that real estate is regional but I was really surprised when I talked to a friend of mine in Colorado last night. She purchased her home for $350,000 in Oct 2006 and recently refinanced. Her appraisal came in at $410,000 an increase of 60K in not quite 3 years. When I did my refinance, my appraisal was low. Just shows that not all areas of the country are the same.
western_pa_luann
14 years ago
" Just shows that not all areas of the country are the same."

Yup... Pittsburgh is another such area. Housing values are UP, and foreclosures are DOWN for a second straight year.

I feel like the housing market is getting worse

Comments (19)

gamecock43

Linda

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