PROMISING NEWS, REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND SELLERS!

Grant MacKenzie of Re/Max sent this to me about the current real estate market:

The market peaked three years ago, and is now in the process of bottoming out.  “Are we there yet?” is a common refrain of kids on summer vacation.  Lately, it has become a common refrain of our clients, looking for the bottom of the housing market. 
 
While there has been some progress, we are not yet past the bottom.  Some of the good news: 
 
· Home resales in Maricopa County have been steadily increasing since the first of the year (page 15)
 
· MLS listings have been falling for the past three months, in spite of a glut of foreclosures (page 14)
 
· New home prices in Maricopa County are back to ‘normal’ (page 13)  Phoenix has affordable housing again
 
· Lots of refugees from California are still moving to Arizona (page 8)
 
· Incomes continue to grow (page 9)
 
· The gap between asking prices and selling prices has returned to normal (page 18)
 
· Lenders are moving repossessed homes to market quickly – more than half of the homes sold in Pinal County during May were bank-owned
 
There are a lot of capable buyers in the wings, simply waiting for a clear sign that they will not be “catching a falling knife”.  We’ll know we’re past the bottom when foreclosures begin to fall.  That will happen sooner if the national ‘housing rescue’ legislation, expected to become law this month, effectively mitigates some expected foreclosures.  Also, as financial institutions return to health, mortgage rates should begin to fall, reflecting the substantial rate cuts already put in place by the Federal Reserve Board.
 
The picture looks a lot like 1991.  We’ll soon be seeing the beginning of a new cycle in the housing market.