Signs of Recovery?

Just a quick note as I’m attending the Craig Proctor Super Conference this week in Dallas, TX. Craig Proctor is one of the true superstars not only in real estate, but in American business.  Craig has consistently been a top 10 performer for RE/MAX worldwide and has on a couple of occasions but THE top associate for the company.

Craig runs a coaching and educational training company and three times per year, about 1500-2000 of the top agents in the country come together for 3-4 days of training and networking.  I have had the pleasure to attend the last three Super Conferences.

In talking with agents from across the country, there are signs that things are either bottoming or have bottomed in some of the very distressed areas.   Inventories are falling in some parts of Florida and California and we’ve seen from other news stories, that transaction activity has picked up significantly.

In one of my conversations with some agents tonight over dinner, we had the opportunity to discuss the San Diego market.  One conversation doesn’t make a market, but I thought their points were very interesting.   These agents told me that million properties in San Diego were not lasting long on the market.   The reason is they are down from about $1.6 million a few years ago and are now selling for $1 million.  It seems that the buyers have made the decision that that price is now low enough that they are seeing a once in a generation opportunity to be able to buy a nice 2,000 – 2,500 square foot home with ocean views in San Diego.

I heard from other contacts who work some of the smaller towns in Florida that you were able to pick up a 3BR/2BA home – in good condition – for $60,000.   Those deals are basically gone and the prices in some of those towns are starting to move up.

I have to run off to another session, and if I have additional information, insights or anecdotes, I’ll be sure to post them.

Twin Cities Real Estate Market Update: Week of April 6, 2009 – More Signs of Improvement

I know no one really wants to hear this, but there are continued signs of stabilization in the Twin Cities real estate market.  It does not mean we will come roaring back, but there are many encouraging signs.  For example, in this week’s report from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors we see the following: (note: all data is compared to one year ago)

  • Pending sales are up 28.2%
  • New listings are down 12.2%
  • Overall active listings are down 16.2% to 26,131 properties for sale
  • Days on Market until Sale (pending) has dropped 9% to 150 days
  • Percentage of original list price received at sale is UP .6%….we haven’t seen this uptick in months and months
  • Months supply of houses is down 23.5% to 5.57 months supply

Here is the link to the full report this week.

MAAR Weekly Activity Report Logo