MRED Blog

REinventing MLS

REALLY???

Leave a comment Posted by MRED Communications on August 17, 2012

By Jeff Lasky, MRED Director of Communications and Training

The headlines are all over now. As housing inventory is shrinking because of the great real estate market of the last few months, housing affordability is threatened.

Really?

As an industry, I don’t think we can be more negative about things than we are. Anytime anything happens, trust that the spin will quickly be negative.

     – Many homes are for sale? Well, that’s because no one is buying.
     – Low interest rates? Well, nobody has a down payment.
     – Lots of homes are selling? Well, that means less homes are now available and those properties are less affordable.

You can think of a lot more examples, because you are in the real estate industry and we’re all really good at picking the bad out of the good.

Can we just stop? Can we just take the marketplace as is it, use our considerable skills and knowledge, and just service the heck out of our customers and make money?

The really successful in this industry (and everywhere else) do just that. The not so successful? Too busy picking the bad out of the good.

One last thing: “housing affordability is threatened” is another way of saying “prices are going up”. You mean equity is being restored to properties? Is there a chance that consumers might actually rise up from being underwater?

Gosh, I can’t stand all of this bad news . . .

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Housing Market Year-Over-Year

Leave a comment Posted by MRED Communications on August 17, 2012

Infographic from the KCM Blog:

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July 2012 Monthly Market Report

Leave a comment Posted by MRED Communications on August 16, 2012

During the month of the 30th Olympiad, housing medaled in several arenas. A few short years ago, housing was considered a headwind to economic recovery. Today, housing is seen as a tailwind to a stalling economy. For the first time since 2005, housing is on track for contributing positively to national GDP in 2012. That can occur either by way of direct residential investment or through remodeling and other ancillary services. Watch for signs of sustained tailwinds in a variety of indicators, including market times, seller concessions, prices and absorption rates.

New Listings in Chicagoland were up 1.2 percent for detached homes but decreased 1.8 percent for attached properties. Listings Under Contract increased 56.3 percent for detached homes and 69.7 percent for attached properties.

The Median Sales Price was down 2.6 percent to $185,000 for detached homes and 11.7 percent to $132,500 for attached properties. Months Supply of Inventory decreased 41.5 percent for detached units and 55.2 percent for attached units.

Sustained recovery will not occur without real employment and wage growth. Consumers must be confident in both the economy and their family finances before signing on the dotted line. Cheap borrowing costs have served as the glue binding things together. Unimaginable a few years ago, the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage recently ducked below the 3.49 percent marker. Job creation and GDP numbers will garner particular attention this quarter.

Click HERE to see MRED’s Monthly Indicators Report for July 2012

[NOTE: Residential Detached and Attached single family activity only.]

Click HERE to see MRED’s Lender Mediated Report for July 2012

[NOTE: Lender-mediated properties are those marked in MRED as “Foreclosed”, “REO”, “Pre-Foreclosure” or “Short Sale”. Residential Detached and Attached single family activity only.]