BROADCASTS.com

b"With Terry Story, 28-year veteran Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, FL
Pending Home Sales Down in January 2017\\xa0
Pending home sales dipped in January 2017, a state of affairs which Terry attributes to an imbalance between supply and demand in the housing market.\\xa0 Housing inventory is less than 6 months, which means, in theory, that if no new sellers added their homes to this inventory, all available supply would be sold in less than 6 months.\\xa0 This sub-6 month supply, incidentally, is the criteria for using the term \\u201cseller\\u2019s market,\\u201d and that is certainly the case in locations across the country today. Terry notes that roughly only 20% of homes that hit the market sell in a timely fashion, and the remainder \\u2013 which fail to sell because they're too expensive or unattractive for other reasons \\u2013 constitute the bulk of the unsold inventory.
Low Housing Inventory: Seller\\u2019s Market\\xa0
It might seem counter-intuitive that pending sales have fallen in a strong housing market, but, in part, the recent successes for home sellers have set the stage for the current hiccup by depleting the number of sought after homes for sale. Returning to the lower number of pending home sales, fewer sales contracts means fewer pending sales, and, eventually, fewer closings. Terry explains that the lack of sales contracts, in her experience, is a result of buyers not finding what they're looking for and both sellers and buyers not being able to get on the same page in terms of the value of a home.\\xa0 For many homes on the market, a holding pattern has set in, with both buyers and sellers adopting a wait and see attitude. This is the basic reason for the downturn in pending sales and completed sales.
She describes many sellers as \\u201cgreedy and unrealistic.\\u201d Delving a bit deeper into buyer psychology, Terry observes that a large number of would-be buyers, having witnessed the mortgage meltdown of 2007, are afraid the housing market is overpriced and are wary of buying into a market top. They see housing prices as being near a peak and expect them to, at best, flat-line for the next few years. The number of homes in the locations, condition, and price range that buyers find attractive is very low. Finally, uncertainty in the political realm and euphoria in the stock market are also contributing to a sense that the economy may be overheating.
Luxury Market on Hold
As for the luxury market, asking prices have been coming down, sometimes significantly in dollar terms if not in percentage terms, but the number of buyers in that segment is not large enough to absorb the slack in the market. The strength of the US dollar is also weighing down on sales because it makes these properties more expensive for foreign cash buyers. Compound this factor with a frenzy of new building and thus competition in the high end of the market \\u2013 at least in Florida \\u2013 and buyers are taking more time to find more value and better deals.
First-Time Home Buyers Seek Median Priced Homes
The market has been healthier and sales have been strong in other price ranges, particularly in and below the median 300-400K realm, according to Terry.\\xa0 For sellers, asking prices still need to be tuned to the local market, with realistic discounts for needed upgrades and other liabilities.\\xa0 First-time home buyers are out in force and ready to bid on well-priced houses. Correctly priced homes in the median range are still being bid up beyond the asking price, a sign of on-going strength in this niche. Meanwhile, expensive waterfront properties and overpriced homes in the wrong locale are languishing and for all intents and purposes aren't receiving bids near listed prices."