The Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS® released a review of the national real estate market today based on a survey of 2000 REALTORS®.

The report indicates that as many as 23% of qualified buyers are waiting for the national market to stabilze before they purchase a home.  This is siginifigant because it indicates that once signs of stabilization occur there is likely to be a rush of buyers jumping into the market making the recovery of the national housing market robust.

Some other items of note from the report included feedback from participants of the survey.  I have summarized of a few of the sentiments reported.

"Short sales are frustrating because lenders have been exceedingly slow to reply to purchase offers."

"Bank owned properties are very competitive with multiple offers being submitted and closing above list price."

"Some buyers can not close on their purchases because their purchase is contingent on the sale of their current home the cannot sell."

"Fixer-uppers are slow to sell because of the high cost of construction."

"Some builders have begun selling at or below cost of construction hurting the existing home market."

"Lower appraised values have caused some home sales to fall apart and not close."

"Higher gas prices have hurt rural area home prices."

"The media tends to paint a national picture about market conditions which do not reflect local market trends."

"Buyers are waiting for the market to bottom before committing to buy."

Tanya Kulaga
Realtor® CRS, ABR, GRI
Realty Executives, Hedges Real Estate
(785)550-2585
www.SearchLawrence.com

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