Ken, great point!  Thanks for cutting through the gibberish!

Ken- I agree that pricing is an issue, but the media is still blowing the gloom and doom way out and I have had buyers back out cause of what they have heard and read.

Hi Tony and Pam.  Thanks for reading.

I agree that the media does make it look dire.  Do you know how many news stories there are about shootings in Chicago right now.

Negative news sells.  We have to deal with it.

Ken

if everyone droped home prices 10% I think the market would come back strong. Good blog

Ken, I agree that the media is way too negative. It may be for ratings or maybe they want the economy to be bad until the election because they want a Democrat in the White House.

Ken.  Holy crap!  482 blogs later, you wrote something that I finally agree with! :)  Well, mostly (didn't want it to go to your head!)  Kay Wirth and you are both right - consumer confidence is low (well actually, consumers are very confident ... confident prices will continue to drop), financing is tightening (less easy money, stricter appraisals and credit qualifications), the economy IS weakening (gas prices skyrocketing, food prices going up, people paying more attention to disposable income) and all three of these reasons lead to a SMALLER BUYER POOL, which leads to LESS DEMAND, which according to your Bachelor's degree in Finance and 12 years in the financial sector you know leads to LOWER PRICES.  Or at least it should.  Or at least it will ... eventually.

Great post Ken! 

LEONARD!!!!!!!!!!!! 

As soon as I say you commented, I knew you would be pleased.  I thought we must agree at some level.

Thanks Betty and Chris for commenting as well!

Ken

Right on Leonard. The easy credit was a major reason for the boom in the first place. If you have 20 people bidding on one house because they can all get financing, prices skyrocket.

The problem with this is that its NOT all about US.  It's all about our clients!  Now as  a listing agent, my fiduciary obligation is to the seller and the seller wants the highest price he/she can get.  Also, in our area inventories are so low that high prices are sustainable. Sellers aren't putting their homes on. Buyers aren't buying nearly as fast as they were, but with inventories so low, they have fewer options when they do want to buy. Point is, the price structure is sustainable.  So I'm not going to be able nor SHOULD I convince a seller to lower their asking price by 10%. 

Hi Hossy and Ruthmarie.  That's cool.  Thanks for reading!

Ken

Ruthmarie.  This is Ken's blog so I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I'm going to guess he was talking about the other 90% of the marketplaces other than yours where inventories are flooded with short sales, foreclosures, sellers writing checks to close, and sellers taking 80 to 90 cents on the dollar just to get out from onerous mortgages.

Only two things can keep a home from selling - the Realtor or the price - and if the Realtor is doing everything they are suppose to do and getting people through the house and it's not selling, it must be price.

At least that's what I've found in my limited experience.

Well said, Leonard.  Feel free to discuss.  Thanks again,

Ken