No I'm not talking about Realtors ;>)
What I am observing, like the rest of you, is that listings are expiring like crazy. Seems only natural, since many agents seem to be having difficulty selling their inventory. I am finding that roughly half the expireds will not relist their homes in the near future, citing "the market". What this means is that many sellers were simply floating trial balloons to hold up their inflated dreams of turning a quick and dirty profit on a home they had only lived in for two years (usually to coincide with a pre-planned COE). This kind of speculation is about done, thank God. I won't list anyone who is foating a trial balloon. These people say, "We're thinking of moving into a bigger home, if we can get enough for this one." Here's your canned script:
"Excuse me. I just realized I need to go home and brush my teeth. Can we do this another time?"
I think all these listings expiring and not re-listing is great! It means that the above-referenced "time wasters" are clearing the deck to make room for those who will relist because they have to. That's what we need right now: people who "have to" move. They will sell at a price that is likely much more reasonable than what they were shooting for in the 1st 90-180 days.
Clearing out this inventory is what we need. We have way too many homes on the market right now, and we can't possibly sell them all. It would take us two years to sell all the homes we have on the market now, if no new ones came on! Supply and demand will likely return to more balanced levels by next summer, I think.
Seller's expectations will readjust to reality. Next year, when people start moving again in the summer, agents should have a lot more flexibility with their seller clients, and won't need to come up with newfangled plots and schemes to get their sellers to list at a reasonable price. The market will have taught everyone a well-deserved lesson: What goes up comes down!
At this time, we need to be reminding those sellers (who need to sell) that making nearly $100,000 on a home they've only lived in for 3 years is a fabulous return on investment. Try that in the stock-market!
Allen
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