Robert Darrow, @properties

From the July 8 Industry Realtor Survey:

Home prices continued to fall in June, as our price index fell to 11 from 25 in May, with any reading below 50 indicating lower home prices over the past 30 days. Rising inventory remained a challenge, and agents continued to note appraisals coming in below contract values and forcing prices lower. Our home listings index inched up to 31 in June from 29 in May, but remains well below a neutral reading of 50 (any reading below 50 indicates sequentially higher inventory). Weak traffic and higher inventory led to a longer time needed to sell a home – a negative indicator for future pricing – as our time to sell index was unchanged at 30 in June from 29 in May (below a neutral reading of 50).

Do they REALLY need to get me going again on Appraisals?

Rant 1, Rant 2, Rant 3, Rant 4, Rant 5.

Buyer traffic remained essentially unchanged in June relative to May, as our traffic index came in at 29 (from 28), indicating traffic levels below agents’ expectations for this time of year (readings below 50 point to traffic below agents’ expectations). On the positive side, agents noted a healthy level of interest from first-time homebuyers looking to take advantage of deals and without an existing home weighing them down. Most of the optimistic commentary focused on this segment, with comments suggesting that attractive affordability from lower prices, low rates and the $8,000 tax credit have created a draw. Higher mortgage rates appeared to weigh on traffic as the month progressed, although several agents commented that the initial reaction to higher rates was a bit of a counterintuitive positive as the increase served as a form of motivation to act now. However, many buyers moved back to the sidelines in anticipation of lower rates in the future.

In my case, my transactions were mainly for middle priced townhomes.  Your typical mid-price townhome is both a move-up and a move-down appropriate home.  And in my case, one seller was consolidating – so move-down – and two buyers were moving up from smaller condos.

Only one of my transactions (the one in the 5 day rant above) was with a first-time home buyer.

Comments are closed.