RISMEDIA, April 8, 2009-April is now here and we’re all starting to hear positive news, almost daily, about the real estate industry. Don’t get me wrong – the “Chicken Littles” of the world are still out there, telling everyone who will listen that the sky is still falling.
Here at Allison James Estates and Homes, we go strictly by the numbers and the numbers aren’t lying. Our number of sales is up over 25% and our income was up in March over our best month ever by 31%. If the sky is falling, I sure hope it continues to fall at this rate every month.
However, the pundits are still claiming the bottom is still out there, but their case is leaking water. There are areas in the country that are already seeing small price increases, along with much stronger number of sales, and there are a lot of short sale realtors who still claim that the inventory is going to get much worse. If that’s so, I need an explanation as to why the inventory is decreasing in most areas. Sure, sellers are taking their properties off the market, but so what? Sellers have always taken their properties off the market unless they could get what they wanted. There is nothing new or revolutionary in this strategy.
The bottom line is there was an overreaction to the inflationary increases in real estate over the period between 2000 to 2006. As a result, real estate in most areas is now undervalued and the consumer has taken notice. One of the things I’ve noticed over the last month, is the number of end-use buyers is now as strong as the investors. This is a very good sign, as it shows that the pent up demand that we have all talked about for the past couple of years is starting to kick in.