Triangle Home Sales Collapse 33% in July

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by RickAbdella

Buyer fear is absolutely a factor in the market today. They are afraid of paying too much for a house, the economy in general, their jobs, that they won’t be able to sell their home to be able to buy another one, etc. But the biggest factor to me is buyer and seller motivation. If people do not NEED to buy or sell, they are fighting the market and in some cases reality.

I see most buyers that don’t NEED to buy thinking that we have not hit bottom yet and that prices will continue to go down while interest rates will stay historically low – or go even lower so they are going in with ridiculously low offers and walking away if they don’t get an immediate yes. I see most sellers that don’t NEED to sell thinking that we are past the bottom and that prices will be going up along with interest rates so they are refusing to lower their prices or accept offers they think are too low. In some cases, it’s the same person buying and selling – when it comes to buying a house they think they should be able to steal it while standing firm on their overpriced current home. Some of it is just not rational.

A lot of what is driving the market right now are the motivated buyers and sellers that NEED to buy and/or sell – and right now that is a minority.

You have described perfectly a basic point of economics and that is at any given price x people will be willing to buy and x people willing to sell. As price goes down at each price point new buyers will enter the market and at x upward price point new sellers will enter the market. We have lost much if any sense of equilibrium. Some folks are finding their match but many others aren't. Reality is if you have your house paid for and wanted to sell it you could with little problem.