Nowhere near my kind of buyers’ market
August 10th, 2006 | by mbhunter |I see signs of folks lowering their selling prices for their houses around here, but those prices are still pretty steep, and most buyers will have a hefty mortgage after the sale. A 1500+ square foot house as old as I am on about 1/2 acre was listed recently for $235k. Still in the realm of ridiculous.
I also hear about how this is becoming a buyers’ market through various news articles, magazines, and radio programs. The speculators and the flippers and even the investors (!) may still have some profit in their houses, but a lot of them are seeing their profits dry up. So they want to sell. But does this make it a buyers’ market? Was the NASDAQ a buyers’ market when it hit 4,500 from its peak of about 5,000? Granted, hindsight is twenty-twenty but are year-over-year double-digit gains in real estate any different than year-over-year double-digit gains in the stock market? I don’t really think so. Just like a 10% dip in stocks from an all-time high is still high, seeing that home sellers are a little more likely to negotiate doesn’t mean that this is a buyers’ market.
I’d like sellers to get more motivated before I’d call it a buyers’ market. Anytime I hear about one of my friends selling their house, my offer price seems to be way too low. 
Are you in a real estate buyers’ market where you live?
3 Responses to “Nowhere near my kind of buyers’ market”
By Chris on Aug 11, 2006 | Reply
I def. don’t live in a buyers market. I live in Portland, OR. Here a 1500 sq ft. house on half an acre (unheard of here by the way) would be pushing 350k depending on the part of town.
By mbhunter on Aug 11, 2006 | Reply
That’s pricey Chris. We don’t have to go too far north to see those kinds of prices (Metro DC).
By Kellie on Aug 16, 2006 | Reply
They say it’s a buyers market here in Grand Rapids, MI but it’s all hype.