NO SELLER LISTINGS? PERHAPS THE BANKS SHOULD LIST BANK OWNED HOMES.
In Northeast, OH (the Greater Cleveland Area) we have a shortage of homes to sell at most price points. Many of the homes on the market are not in good condition. We need more homes on the market. We have buyers who have seen every home in their price range; and, they are waiting for more homes to come on the market.
We admit that there are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD homes for sale, but the bank listings are few and far between.
Many experts have been concerned with the "shadow inventory" owned by banks. These are the bank owned homes that are not currently for sale. These experts thought that if the banks would unload their "shadow inventory" homes all at once, the real estate market would collapase. Well, most of the "shadow inventory" still exists. And, we are now in a sellers market.
Banks have reasons for not releasing their bank owned homes. They are able to hold those homes as assets at a higher value on their books than the value when they list them on the market. We think many of the banks are waiting for the housing market recovery, so they can list the bank owned homes at a higher listing price. Banks also have other reasons for holding on to bank owned homes; check out http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/10/09/Slow-Bank-Action-Slows-Housing-Shadow-Inventory.aspx#page1
But, now, let's looks at reailty. We need more homes on the market for waiting buyers to purchase. As we said above, we have shifted from a buyers Market to a sellers Market.
Perhaps the banks could start testing the market for their homes by listing a few bank owned homes for sale in various markets. This may encourage sellers who want to sell their own homes to put them on the market. We need homes to sell to our waiting buyers.
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