Earlier this week, Richard Smith, Chief Executive Officer for Realogy (Coldwell Banker’s parent company), released a video statement regarding the state of the national housing market. In it, he noted, “Like all downturns, this too shall pass. It’s not a matter of if, but when.”
Shortly thereafter I read several market updates including two notable reports from Freddie Mac and NAR. Both are predicting that the market will stabilize in the latter months of 2008, with housing recovery and sustained growth expected in 2009.
So what does that mean for Buyers and Sellers now? Opportunity is knocking. Though none of us holds a crystal ball, if both of these respected sources are correct in their predictions, now may be what we look back upon a year from now and say “that was the official bottom of our market”. Buyers should be aware of this fact and need to take advantage of today’s attractive interest rates and increased jumbo loan limits. In a broader regional sense, specifically in the average-and-under price points, Buyers have more choices, lower prices, and motivated Sellers to negotiate with. Conversely, most local Buyers in our over $1M high demand areas of the Peninsula and San Francisco are having trouble finding enough new listings to meet demand. This notable dichotomy suggests that if the statewide and national indicators point to “hitting bottom” soon, then certainly it won’t mean an increase of inventory coming to market at lower prices in these desirable $1M+ communities.
