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Predictions for 2009
March 13th, 2009 12:49 PM
Predictions for 2009

What's in store for the St. Louis real estate market?

Most experts would agree that predicting real estate market activity, sales trends, and consumer confidence is incredibly difficult. Most predictions are simply extrapolations of past events and therefore subject to change as real-life events unfold. What kind of market will St. Louis Realtors face as they ramp up for the spring and summer home buying season?

Elizabeth Weintraub, Realtor/columnist for About.com has looked ahead at 2009 and has reported her predictions. Here is an interesting look forward.

Little or no home appreciation as the markets hit bottom - The dramatic nationwide price drops of 30% to 50% we saw between 2006 and 2008 are gone. The market will not completely stabilize in 2009. Consumer confidence may continue to fall as more people find themselves out of work. On the bright side, employed home buyers with good credit will find 2009 is an excellent time to buy, especially in the St. Louis home market arena.

Housing inventory will fall - Sellers will withhold listings from the market or cancel listings that don't sell within 90 days. There will be a persistent demand from two groups of buyers. The first group is first-time home buyers, thanks to the government's 2009 $8,000 tax credit, and the second group will consist of investors. Inventory will fall but will not drive up prices. Although fewer homes will be available for sale, those sellers will be motivated to sell.

Buyers will compete in multiple-offer situations - Due to limited inventory, coupled with pseudo pricing on short sales and foreclosures, buyers will find themselves competing over the most attractive listings. Sellers should be prepared to receive multiple offers on these listings. Multiple offers may drive up the price to market value but buyers will refuse to pay over market value. Stiff competition will result from buyers going head-to-head with aggressive investors. Cash buyers will win every time over buyers who need financing. Buyers should start early to secure their financing with a lender pre-approval and then they'll be able to negotiate assertively when the right deal comes along.

Competition will shrink - It's been a tough market for agents and more will be leaving the industry as companies are faced with either the option of closing their doors or merging with a larger, financially stronger firm. The industry will continue to weed itself of lackluster and inexperienced real estate agents. If you haven't noticed, there are also fewer and fewer mortgage companies these days. The running count of failed, out of business, acquired or bankrupt mortgage lenders has reached 338, according to recent web site statistics at The Mortgage Lending Implode-O-Meter. Agents should re-align their lending relationships with stronger, customer friendly firms such as Paramount Mortgage, to ensure buyer success in securing the financing to complete the sale.

Link: 2009 Predictions
Posted by Customer Service on March 13th, 2009 12:49 PMPost a Comment (0)
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