The Sky is NOT Falling in Lake Charles, LA
NAR Figures DO NOT Always Reflect the Local Market
This week NAR released figures for July with the not so great news of a 25% decline in the market. It did not take long for the national media to jump on board and broadcast the "doom and gloom" report.
I have read many blogs and commentaries on where analysts think the real estate market is headed Everyone wants to know where the Buyers are. The rates are the lowest they have been in 50 years, housing inventory is plentiful so where are the Buyers?
The Buyers are all scared and are not getting off the fence. Why are they not buying with the money they will save on a mortgage with low interest? They are fearful of the economy and a recession. Where does this fear come from? We are fed it on a daily basis from print and media.
Earlier this week, our local NBC affiliate KPLC ran this story entitled "Bad news on homes, goods add to air of recession"
This story was followed with another national media feature "One in 10 with a mortgage face foreclosure"
I am not making a political statement nor am I not being empathetic with unemployment or families in crisis. It is true our country needs to address some very critical issues at hand. My point is this ....national media does not always reflect the local community.
After the first news story ran about home sales decline, my phone starting ringing. Two of my sellers were so panic stricken that for a moment I thought I was on a page of the story of Chicken Little and the Sky is Falling! I managed to give explanation to each seller of what our local Lake Charles market was experiencing and our market is stable. July and August have been record months for me personally.
So how do we as REALTORS combat the national media hysteria when it doesn't pertain to our "local" market?
I contacted the General Manager, Jim Serra of our KPLC station who happens to be a good friend. I understand the news has an obligation to report the national news and are fed syndicated stories but how about an editorial of that is not what we are experiencing here in our region?
My friend Jim, the GM, replied to me "Marilyn This is a topic we may well visit editorially, I did hook our news folks up with Richmond Reinauer of the local Realtors association yesterday, and he made the case that the local market does not reflect the national stats."
So there you have it,our local Board of Realtors President realizes the local market does not reflect the national stats. We just have to take a stand and get this word out which is half the battle!
I track the Lake Charles sales and create a market report each month which is posted on lookrealty.com. As you can see from the market snapshot of stats below, Lake Charles Home Sales remains stable, there are no sharp declines. These figures are for Lake Charles only and DO NOT include surrounding Calcasieu communities of Sulphur, Westlake, Moss Bluff, Iowa, Vinton or other Southwest Louisiana areas.
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