Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Realty Times: Market Conditions

Realty Times has a section called Market Conditions where realtors can post about local market conditions. It is interesting to read. Here is part of a report about the Baltimore market:

The housing market in Baltimore is hot, hot!!! Prices continue to rise. The percentage of increase isn't as high as we've seen in recent months but they are still on a steady increase just the same. There are plenty of opportunities for investors and home owners alike depending on what your needs are and your future goals.


Or this report about the Seattle market "The urban condo market is red hot! The residential market is just as volatile. Inventory can not keep pace with the demand. Seattle is such a diverse city its occupants can choose urban living as well as suburban living. Seattle is comprised of multiple, fascinating cities-within-cities. From waterfront to high-rise to remarkable house boats - your choices are limitless. Prices range from the $500s to over $4 million. Most properties sell in the range of $550,000, and offer two bedrooms and 1.75 baths in 1,600 square feet."

Take some of the reports on Realty Times with a large grain of salt. If you search enough you may even find reports that admit that the bubble is over.

3 comments:

  1. Something you have to remember about the market reports on Realty Times, they are posted by real estate agents who use the Realty Times newletter as a marketing tool and subscribe to the service. As far as the first comment above, as a real estate broker owner in Palm Beach County, Florida, it's kind of a disappointment to see some anonymous person spew their venom and denigrate a profession that is working to provide a service and a high level of integrity to their clients.

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  2. The realtors will be the last to know when the s*it hits the fan. They cannot be objective because they have too much of a vested interest in the market. They won't say anything until the market is completely dead.

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  3. "...denigrate a profession that is working to provide a service and a high level of integrity to their clients."

    Those who actually denigrate the profession are realtors themselves who paint a less-than objective view of the market (for their own gain, you suppose?), and give homebuyers false information and push hopes for unrealistic gains. These practices are well documented in numerous articles and first-and conversation. I can only hope this behavior doesn't reflect the majority. So, after things hit the fan, and homebuyers are disillusioned over realtors, how will the realty industry regain their trust? In the future, homebuyers will be pushing realtors a lot harder regarding appraised "value", lending stardards, and market strength. Realtors should earn that trust, and not count on buyer urgency to make a sale.

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