This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2007 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Real Estate News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Today’s home sales slide is something of a variance, since past housing downturns have been fueled by big hikes in mortgage rates and economic slowdowns. We have neither today; what we have instead are anxious consumers. Home vales have risen, its tough to find affordable housing, and buyers have lost faith.
           Now that property prices have come down to a more suitable level, households and investors should get back into the real estate game. With luck, eased price increases will continue for the balance of 2007.
           That makes prices key. Sellers need to abandon unreasonable expectations about the value of their home. After all, most home owners have enjoyed large equity gains on their property over the past few years. Cutting prices by 5 percent or 10 percent won’t wipe out those gains. Agents are asking, or pleading with, sellers to accept market realities and reduce their listing price.