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I'm a buyer. A variety of things have kept me on the fence, one of which is that I've been reading disturbing reports about the economy for months now.
Most buyers probably have not been reading disturbing reports for months. So their unease was the vague kind. You can still buy a house with vague unease. The news coverage and scale and implication of the current failures and bailouts have now brought the disturbing reports to everyone-- even people who don't read.
The unease is no longer vague. And it's no longer unease. It's worry or outright panic. You don't buy a house when you're worried or panicked.
Another thing: Anyone qualified to buy a house right now has a BIG pile of cash. If you had a big pile of cash right now, would you be out looking at houses or reading everything you could get your hands on to tell you where the hell to put it so it didn't disappear or deflate till it was worthless. The non-readers have begun reading. They're very busy right now. They haven't been this busy reading since they crammed for finals on No-Doz. So no showings.
Consider this quote I came across yesterday: "In these precarious times, think return of capital, not return on capital."
Not to disagree with what cohdane mentions above, but this is also when there's a normal season related slowdown in sales in many areas. The kids are back in school which cuts out a lot of potential buyers until late spring next year.
Not that the recent economic news is good, but just as people mistook a normal seasonal upswing this spring as The Real Estate Recovery (tm), seeing a slowdown as we roll into fall shouldn't be taken to be more than it is. Combine that with a listing that's getting more stale by the week, and this might be nothing more than the normal fluctuations in the RE market.
That being said, if you get no lookers for a month at a time, I'd start to pay a lot more attention.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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If I had a big pile of cash, real estate is exactly where I would be putting it right now. Inflation may rear it's ugly head here and while other inflation hedges are out there, those markets are a bit more subject to speculation.
If I had a big pile of cash, real estate is exactly where I would be putting it right now. Inflation may rear it's ugly head here and while other inflation hedges are out there, those markets are a bit more subject to speculation.
Well, we might get the worst of all possible worlds: asset deflation with inflation of all other household consumables. If we also get banks hoarding cash, interest rates will stay too high, and so forth and so on. In other words, stagflation with Depression overlay. Not good.
I'd be buying up rentals as well as quickly as I could, ppl are still foing to foreclose bailout or no bailout, of course thats just my own opinion - banks will still not be quick to lend out money - but ppl still need a place to live...hence what I own -
its that time of year for a slow down - hang in there......
I do understand it is that time of year, but expected showings would dwindle after Halloween, and between now and then, there would stil be some "want to be in by Christmas" people.I was also pleased at how many showings I WAS getting as school was starting. I am in a situation where I don't have to sell, and can wait for next spring or summer. Just seems like everyones pocket books are closed.
Tougher credit and lending requirements has caused some I know to delay their purchase. Recently a local borrower was denied refinancing with a 760 credit score and 10% equity.
This is what happened last year. Things started to look better during the selling season and afterwards the floor drops. The normal behavior in a declining market is relatively stability during the selling season and then large declines in the off season. The selling season is sort of like an eye of a Hurricane. The current financial news is going to help the floor drop even further.
Of course the real estate agents, still recommend buying. What else is new.
We've had more activity than ever....to my surprise! I'll update everyone soon.
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