Lately, in Eureka, Fortuna, McKinleyvill, Arcata, Crescent City and surrounding areas in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, it seems that the prices are being stable and dropping rather than going up as was seen a couple years ago. For homes in the Eureka area, even the properties in the mid to upper $200,000s are staying on the market longer than previous years. Then there are those $400,000 and up homes that are staying on the market longer and longer. At this point, both sellers and buyers are fully aware that it IS a buyer's market. So sellers need to be more realistic about pricing their homes and buyers are being more careful about their home purchase in both Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
Even in Crescent City, the savvy investors are becoming more and more scarce. Most buyers do not qualify for an excellent loan, or they do not have the income to support the monthly payments. Most buyers in Crescent City are first time home buyers looking to get into their first homes. But with the new restrictions on sub-prime lending and with buyers being more selective and "picky" about their home purchase, there are less and less sales taking place at the same time period. This is also the case in Eureka, McKinleyville, Fortuna and other surrounding cities on the North Coast.
There are also more and more listings where the bank has taken back the house due to the owners being unable to pay the monthly payments. In these instances, the lender that owns the house (called REOs or real estate owned) needs to sell the property in the least amount of time as possible, so they tend to price the house at or below market value, which is good for the buyers in today's market.
Realtors need to be more patient with today's savvy or careful buyer's because the market conditions are not moving at a fast pace like previous years. But either way, although the inventory of homes for sale is in a surplus condition, there Are buyers and investors out there still who are trying to buy their first home, or simply making that quick flip. But the real estate agent has to learn to be patient, know the market, know the rules and regulations and in's and out's of foreclosed homes and REO (real estate owned) bank owned homes. Real estate agents need to spend time and effort to learn about the process for foreclosures or the process of short sales, or simply, just learning about the pricing of the sellers' homes so that they sell in the quickest amount of time as possible so that the sellers do not end up in a foreclosure situation. This will insure that the real estate agent in Humboldt or Del Norte counties will survive in today's market if they possess those skills. But in any case, there will always be a need for a buyer to buy a house in Eureka or Crescent City or any other city in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, and there will always be someone willing to sell them a house.
Comments(3)