A report from 5280 on Colorado. “For single-family homes, CEO of BSW Real Estate Bret Weinstein notes that Denver’s housing market seems to be slowing down and finally experience the seasonality we were used to before the pandemic. ‘We’re finally reaching this point where we’re getting more inventory, we’re starting to slow down a little bit,’ he says.”
“Jon and CJ Bathgate to purchase a home this summer. The couple started casually looking at houses this spring with the goal of moving in the next 18 months, but the Bathgate’s felt pressured to buy a home—and fast. ‘The extra pressure sort of sped up our timeline a little bit because all these great houses were going so fast,’ CJ says. ‘We needed to act now.’”
“So they did. After putting in two offers and being outbid, the couple finally landed a home on their third try. The Bathgate’s said they bought a home near Cherry Hills Village for less than 10 percent more than asking price. ‘We ended up in our dream home,’ CJ says. ‘I keep saying it every day, ‘I can’t believe we got this place.’”
The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio. “Despite the frenzied pace for home shoppers, the report found more Columbus-area homeowners are sticking a for-sale sign in the yard. The number of homes listed in the Columbus area jumped 43% in July over a year ago, by far the biggest jump in the country and well above the U.S. average of 6.5%. July’s jump in Columbus-area home listings followed a 23% rise in listings in June.”
From Consumer Affairs. “Housing market trends continued to tilt in buyers’ favor last month as the number of homes on the market increased for a fourth straight month. Even more promising, inventory levels for starter homes rose. New listings grew 11.1% over July 2020 in the nation’s 50 largest metros, with more than half posting double-digit gains. Listings increased nearly 43% in Columbus, Ohio, nearly 37% in Baltimore, and nearly 36% in Cleveland. In fact, the biggest regional new listings increases were in the Midwest, where inventory rose 19.8%. Listings were up 11.3% in the West.”
From WMUR. “‘We’re seeing a little bit of balance, fortunately, for some buyers in the state. We’re seeing a little less attendance at open houses, a lot more New Hampshire license plates and less Massachusetts, Connecticut license plates,’ said Adam Gaudet from 603 Birch Realty. ‘So, while the inventory was really low in the beginning of the year, we’re seeing a much greater increase each week. Let’s say in the beginning of the year it was hovering around 1,000 single-family homes for sale any given week. Now, we’re more around 1,800 for sale.’”
From Inside Nova on Virginia. “A a sense of ‘normalcy’ may be returning after more than 18 months of a wild, COVID-infused ride in the NVAR region of Arlington and Fairfax counties and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church. ‘The housing market seems to be stabilizing after several months of atypical behavior – strong sales in mid-winter, price increases not seen since the boom of the early 2000s and unusual weakness for prime-location condos,’ said Terry Clower, director of the Center for Regional Analysis.”
“Inventory is anticipated to remain below 2020 levels, although it remains elevated in the upper-market condo sector throughout much of the region as many buyers have opted for other options.”
The Bend Source. “For the first time in over a year, the real estate inventory in Central Oregon increased—albeit a slight increase. Bend and Redmond hit close to a one-month inventory supply for the first time since July 2020. While this number hardly meets market demand, it could be signaling a transition in the market. Inventory trends tend to be the initial indications of a market shift; a stabilization of pricing, increases or declines.”
“Redmond’s median single family home price dropped to $436,000 in July from the record $451,000 set in June of this year. While Central Oregon’s real estate inventory shortage has been a persistent theme of 2021, July demonstrated a bright spot with a slight increase across the region. While this is a long way from a healthy and stable real estate supply, it could be signaling the beginning of an upward trend.”
The Spokesman Review in Washington. “While Spokane County’s median home price surged to another record high in July, a slight uptick in inventory and cooling sales may be signs of a market beginning to normalize, local Realtors say. ‘We are still seeing multiple offers on homes, but we’re not seeing quite as many,’ said Eric Johnson, president of the Spokane Association of Realtors. ‘We are seeing price reductions in some areas. Those have increased quite a bit. I think that’s partly because people are expecting 15 offers in the first two days (the home is on the market) and they aren’t getting any offers and are panicking.’”
The Tampa Bay Business Journal in Florida. “Nationwide foreclosure filings in July slightly decreased from the previous month but were still up 40% from a year ago, and in the Tampa Bay area, year-over-year foreclosure filings were significantly higher. In July 2020, there were only 20 foreclosure filings in the Tampa Bay metro area. In July 2021, there were 215, a staggering 975% increase. This was most pronounced in Pasco County, which saw a 1425% increase year-over-year, and least evident in Hernando County, which only saw a 150% increase. Still, Tampa Bay was not among the metros with the highest foreclosure rates. Those included Atlantic City, New Jersey, Macon, Georgia, and Las Vegas.”
“Florida had the second-highest number of real estate-owned properties, meaning the property is owned by a lender because it failed to sell in a foreclosure auction after the borrower defaulted. There were 172 REOs in Florida, surpassed only by Illinois with 230. Nationwide REOs are up 5% from last month and up 12% from last year, according to ATTOM, which conducted the study.”
From Yahoo Finance. “In many instances, these ‘mom and pop’ landlords are working class, and the fallout from COVID-19 has left them equally as cash-strapped and hard-pressed to pay bills as their renters are. ‘When they don’t receive rent, they still have to find a way to pay their mortgage for the property, pay the water, the lights, the insurance,’ said Lucinda Lilley, president of Southern California Rental Housing Association. ‘The problem is that sometimes if a renter is not willing to participate in that program, the rental housing provider doesn’t have any way to go ahead and collect that money so [landlords are] left holding the bag.’”
The National Post in Canada. “During the first week of August, a home seller in Hamilton received a purchase offer amounting to $100,000 above the asking price. But rather than thank the real estate gods for their munificence, the Steeltown homeowner rejected the bid, convinced that a better one was just around the corner. It was the latest instance, says Rob Golfi, the realtor whose office attempted to broker the deal, of how inflated expectations in still-hot-but-cooling Canadian markets such as the GTA are causing home sellers to miss out on otherwise profitable exchanges. As Golfi recalled the Hamilton case in an interview recently, the property in question remained unsold.”
“‘Many [sellers] are realizing weeks later that they botched a great offer and regret becoming overly confident and unsatisfied with the offers they declined,’ says Golfi, whose firm, RE/MAX Escarpment Golfi Realty Inc., is a leading brokerage in the territory stretching from Halton Region to Niagara. He adds, ‘It’s difficult for sellers to understand that we are now in an adjustment phase.’”
“The trouble, according to some realtors and industry experts, is that many current sellers don’t seem to have gotten the memo. ‘Seller expectations are being impacted by how things were in previous months,’ Golfi says, adding that many homeowners are resisting the coaching of their agents in favour of unreliable anecdotal evidence. ‘They’re listening to their friends and family and not listening to the realtor. They’re seeing what their neighbours got for their homes in March and April and they’re saying, ‘I want that. I want more than that. My home is worth what they got if not more.’”
“‘But those deals,’ Golfi continues, ‘were sealed months ago. And what happened in March and April was far more supercharged than even the spring boom of 2017.’”
“Peer pressure aside, David Schooley cites another reason for why a seller might reject a good offer for an elusive better one. ‘I hate to use the word greed, but that’s what it often comes down to,’ says the Kitchener-based broker, who also sits on the board of directors of the Real Estate Council of Ontario. ‘People paid some pretty ridiculous prices for homes in the spring, as they did in 2017, so that fear of missing out [among sellers now] is a powerful thing to get over.’”
“Golfi agrees, noting that the gradual decline in home prices since the springtime peak has less to do with the typical summer real estate lull than a return to more realistic valuations. But as he also notes, ‘some sellers are stubborn. Even now, as we’re starting to get back to normal conditions, they’ll insist that we list their houses [at] overprice [rates]. As those listings just sit there, they’ll eventually have the realization that they’re not going to get the number they want, tha they’re throwing away good offers that won’t come again. But they often have to learn it through harsh reality.’”
“Anyone selling now would be wise to consider that old saying about a bird in the hand. Those who continue to overreach when it comes to valuations may find themselves reaching too far for their own good.”