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Well, we have allowed the media once again to bring the "not-so-positive" news straight to the front page. As a result the confidence of the buyers and sellers is what is really is at an all time low. Yes, it is true that our numbers may be down since last year, however, last year (2006) the Memphis Real Estate Market saw lucrative numbers which means the slight drop truly is not as devasting as the news portrays it,
The national media loves to cover the fall of the real estate market and include such inspirational phrases such as "downward spiral" and "sinking values". The job of the Real Estate Agent has become increasingly more difficult when you constantly have to reassure your clients. We sell Real Estate home by home and neighborhood by neighborhood, the national media can't tell you what market trends are happening in your community. So trust in your agent, they know the pros and cons of each neighborhood and can give you specific market information for that defined area.
The Memphis Area Association of REALTORS® (MAAR) reports that homes sales for 2007 as recorded by Memphis-area REALTORS® in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), totaled 16,791, down 14.9 percent from the record 19,738 homes sold in 2006, making 2007 the fourth-best year on record. Total home sales volume for 2007 was $2.87 billion, down 16.1 percent from 2006. For the full year 2007, the average sales price market wide was down 1.3 percent to $171,000 from $173,200 in 2006. The median sales price showed a similar decline, down 1.4 percent to $136,000 from $138,000 in 2006.
"With the increased negative media coverage of real estate last year, psychological factors continued to play into the weakening results we've seen despite the ongoing strength of our local market and some of the best conditions for buyers in recent history," - MAAR President John Snyder.
"We sell Real Estate home by home and neighborhood by neighborhood, the national media can't tell you what market trends are happening in your community. So trust in your agent, they know the pros and cons of each neighborhood and can give you specific market information for that defined area."
This is true but all local news outlets continue to dwell on the negative. Here in the South Florida market, the fall in sales and prices has been severe. So much attention has been given to that and our taxes and insureance that the positives of this downturn aren't even mentioned
Now is a great time for first time homebuyers to get into the market. I am seeing prices in central Palm Beach County now that are great buys. They are like they were a few years ago. That message gets lost in all the negativity.
How can we combat that?
Steve Facella e-Pro, GRI
Realtor/Associate
The Pier Group
561-635-8393
www.stevefacella.com
piergroupsteve@yahoo.com
"That message gets lost in all the negativity. How can we combat that"?
What message is getting lost? Have you seen the most recent forecast and reality check for Foreclosures? When was the last time, in any real estate market, your Board of Realtors offered "short sale" classes? Since when do we subrogate to Lenders over the Deed Holders? The problem we are facing, is home owners who got lines of credit and 125% financing which drove the values of property beyond reality! Now you have Taxing authorities and Insurance and Re-Insurance wanting their piece of the action and nobody can afford it! The News is only presenting the substantiated facts like it or not. Sure there is some pandering and one-upsmanship going on out there in the media, but the truth is we oversold the market through EBAs, ABRs, MORTGAGE BROKERS and anybody else with their hand out. The only way to combat this is to stop all the MIS-INFORMATION that gets disseminated across the WWW. When you have websites that offer the same services that an MLS Realtor offers for a fraction of the cost how do you combat THAT???? It used to be when you wanted a Professional Opinion of value you called a Realtor. But with the likes of Zillow, HouseValues, Realtor dot com etc etc etc. who needs a Realtor? When we can allow a Seller to list their property on the MLS and not be Represented should tell you something about how far NAR wants to represent the members! The truth is the banks have been wanting to get into our business just like Google wanted to get into the search engine bidness. We have a serious problem going on in our system of doing business. The Socialists have two objectives get the Capitalists to redistribute the wealth and take over the powers that are to control the whole. After all isn't State Control what the Socialists want? We have decided to compromise our way to utopia. Yea Right? What's it going to be next in the name of freedom of speech, Fairness Doctrines of nonsense? We need to replace the Ole Guard at the National Level and get some real Capitalists and free thinkers on board at the board! It's always the same suspects in leadership, selling the same compromise. Why does it always take an Amendment to see that our rights are nothing more than the privileges the State has to offer. The association is becoming mores like a union of socialist republic.
Robert King
Broker/Consultant
Charles Rutenberg, Realtors
Clearwater, Florida
I am seeing prices in central Palm Beach County now that are great buys. They are like they were a few years ago. That message gets lost in all the negativity. How can we combat that?
Steve – I try combating it on my neighborhood Web Site and on my ActiveRain blog. You can not change the numbers. Naples has had its share of negative press. While numbers are down, there are some fantastic buys right now in the Naples area near the beach. Now is a great time to buy.
After 30 years in the real estate business I have seen all kinds of markets get all kinds of press; good and bad. Real Estate markets go up, real estate markets go down. If you bought at the top of the market and are not selling, you haven’t lost any money. There are owners in trouble right now because of poor lending and or buying choices. As professionals we can learn about short sales and how to help owners in trouble. Maybe you could obtain some good press helping these owners.
Cordially,
Lynn H. Wilber, GRI, e-PRO®
Broker - Associate
Downing Frye Realty, Inc. - Naples, FL
Office: (239) 594-2780
MailTo:Lynn@NaplesBuys.com
Websites: www.NaplesBuys.com
www.NaplesWave.com
www.activerain.com/blogs/naplesbuys
P.S. Do you know anyone who needs real estate advice? Please feel free to E-mail me their contact information at Lynn@NaplesBuys.com and I will be happy to help them.
Steve,
Are you sayting that the media has it wrong about the market? I don't think so. They've got it right and it's the media's job to tell the story whether we like it or not. My suggestion is that if you have something to add or a different take, contact a reporter and tell them. If there's any validity to your take on things, it, too, will be reported.
Best Regards,
Ed Hain
Steve
The media has a huge amount of power to control the mood of the country, and since they are privately owned, they certainly reflect a bias based on the owning power. My problem with the media is how it has changed from a confirmed and verified fact based forum to just print whatever attention grabbing headlines we can now and worry about the validity of information later. Myself, I get information from many sources and form my own opinion based on the research I have done. However, many many people in this country believe that what they read in their favorite paper/site and take it as cold hard based facts. This can cause so many unnecessary 'panic' swings that just don't need to happen. It would be nice if we could just get back to some unbiased, fact based reporting and stop this panic inducing stories.
Doug Hall, REALTOR, e-Pro
Acres4U Land & Development
Chandler, AZ (480) 710-1004
http://TheDirtDealers.com
MailTo:Doug@TheDirtDealers.com
To combat negative media we create marketing statistics for our various markets. We calculate the number of days on the market, total units sold and average sales price. We have found that over the past year the number of sales has remained the same, the sales price slipped a little in one market and was actually higher in another and the average days on the market increased by 5to10 day. We use this tool when we a re discussing potential listing strategies with our seller clients and the state of our market with our buyer clients. This is useful because it helps us deal with all of the media .
Doug Singer
Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker
Manhasset N.Y.
Steve,
Are you saying that the media has it wrong about the market? I don't think
so. They've got it right and it's the media's job to tell the story whether
we like it or not.......
Hello Steve,
To reply to Ed Hain's comment on this subject, I think the media is often
unclear and even inaccurate with headlines, which can add to the frenzy.
This is the problem that I have with them.
For instance, in today's Arizona Republic, right on the front page is an
article about Home-rental evictions being on the increase. I have no doubt
that this is true. However, next to the headline is a caption by a photo
(of an evicted renter being tasered!). The caption lists foreclosure rates
for several states, including Arizona (which says 26%). The caption reads
"Percentage of foreclosures, among prime loans, involving homes that are not
owner-occupied".
When I quickly read this, I get the idea that of all the non owner-occupied
prime loans in the state of Arizona, an alarming 26% of them are in
foreclosure! When you read the article in detail, it eventually becomes
clear (on page 10 by the way) that what they are really saying is that of
all of the prime loans that are in foreclosure in the state of Arizona, 26%
of them are on non-owner occupied loans.
Really?!! This isn't much of a shock, since it is estimated that over 30%
of the transactions that occurred during our red-hot market of 2005-06 were
purchased by investors or second home buyers. The real problem though, is
that in our world of news McNuggets mentality, most people aren't going to
bother to read past the headlines and photo captions.
As Real Estate Professionals, we have to know the Real Story, and make sure
our clients know the Real Story, not just the headlines and sound bites.
David E. Blobaum, PLLC
RE/MAX Excalibur Realty
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Ed Hain,
The media seldom gets it correct Realestate is local, really local by that I mean neighborhood by neighborhood there can be a difference.
If it bleeds it leads, So If the inventory is dropping it is not interesting it does not bleed. we can expect the media to talk about the good news
it doesn't bleed. We need to tell out SOI the Good News, don't you agree?
David R. Pautler
The David Pautler Team
...The media has a huge amount of power to control the mood of the country-
You really know you're in trouble, when the weather channel start to spin the story. lol
It seems the media is promoting a recession. You realize that everytime there was a recession during an election year, the party out of office took over the white house.
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