Real Estate Slump, Buyers Waiting for Home Prices to Drop
LEE COUNTY - The NBC2 Investigators looked into the real estate market slump and uncovered one thing sellers could do to turn the market around.
The American dream of owning a home is still alive, but on an opportunistic hold. Although the buyers are there, some home prices are at 2002 levels. Many buyers are waiting for the prices to drop.
“What we have are lurkers. Lurking on the sidelines,” said Lee County Realtor Brett Ellis
Ellis agrees with his high-profile competitor Denny Grimes.
“We don’t have a demand problem. We have a supply problem,” said Grimes.
There are 15,000 homes and 9,000 condos listed for sale in Lee County. Thousands of them are priced out of the current real estate market and are putting a downward pressure on prices.
Real estate agents and realtors are laying it on the line for sellers.
“We tell them here’s where the market is- if you’re not prepared to bring your property to the market, we can’t help you. Because nobody is going to be able to sell your property for more than it’s worth, especially in today’s market,” said Ellis.
The NBC2 investigators discovered realtors are telling clients to drop their prices to a reasonable level. IF sellers do that, buyers would buy, the inventory would go down and the market would stabilize.
“We’re seeing people coming in crying uncle, waving the white flag, saying we’re not going to get what we thought. We’ve got to get serious to move this thing,” said Grimes.
The investigators discovered that advice may be taking hold. While many buyers are still lying in wait, others like Jenny Marinescu are seeing an opportunity that may not last much longer.
“I found out from our neighbors that we got a very good deal,” said Marinescu.
She and her husband just bought in a gated community. The house had been on the market at one point for $370,000. They paid $245,000 not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Unless you’re psychic, it’s the only way to predict when the market will bottom and what it will do. You just have to look back at history. If you do your research just a little bit, you’ll see that now is a good time to buy,” said Marinescu.
There is still plenty of disagreement among the experts as to how and when the market will stabilize.
But with housing prices down 20-plus percent from their peak, perhaps those looking for a home can learn from those whose sense of timing has cost them.
“Sellers miss peak. Buyers miss bottom,” said Grimes.
As long as sellers think tomorrow will be worse than today, buyers will remain in the driver’s seat.
Despite disagreement about when the local real estate market will bottom out, lower home prices, historically low mortgage rates and a gradual easing of the credit crunch has almost all experts agreeing this is the best buyers market we’ve seen in at least a decade.