The sky is falling, or so the pundits are predicting yet again as they come out with their latest statistics. I had 
the tv on earlier in the day as background to the many little things I was trying to get done. On the news they had a tease before heading to commercial. It said simply, "real estate in two counties in New York will suffer the steepest downturn in prices." As I waited to hear more, they added finally after the break, "Nassau & Suffolk counties will experience the steepest declines," and suggested the bloodletting would not end before January 2008.
This is my market. I function in it every day and while it is true that homes are selling far beneath their all time highs of over a year ago, there is no panic in these streets. It's an orderly return to a more balanced market, which was long overdue. Buyers are out there, not in droves, but in numbers sufficient to keep this economy moving. Part of the problem here is the number of agents who have no frame of reference for a down market. Anyone who got into this industry in the last seven or eight years is on a learning curve to see how to play the game and win in these changing times.
Sellers have had to adjust to the new math as well. No longer are homes entered into the MLS (if at all) only to sell before the ink dries on the paperwork. Nor does a single ad in the newspaper engender anything more than a lower balance in your checking account these days as the number of homes swell and help fill the coffers of the likes of Newsday and The Times. Owners have to understand the dynamics of this market to come out ahead. They have to price aggressively and above all listen to the professionals they hire to get their homes sold. Aside from that, it's business as usual.
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