Optimistic numbers but...

Aug 24th...
Almost the end of Summer and professionally, almost the end of the Spring/Summer Real Estate buying season for those home buyers who intended on being in a new home BEFORE school started. We, as Realtors, didn't see the "normal" school spike we had hoped for...not to say that we didn't see some increase in activity, we did... but frankly, we expected those sales and more...

Although the July housing Sales figures just released by the Fed showed a marked increase in July to July figures and the rise by percentage was the strongest we've seen in recent years, it's important to recognize that those figures included foreclosures, short sales, and tax incentivized 1st time home buyers, as well as bargain sales weighted heavily from the distressed markets of California, Nevada, and Florida, to name but a few of those markets. All that said, if the numbers were adjusted to discount those new kinds of "sales " that weren't known or analyzed years ago , things would not look so rosey as the 7.2% indicated.

So... going forward a few months...If housing inventories show an increase when some of the new and anticipated foreclosures come on market... look to a continued flatness in prices. Sales may increase driven by bargain hunters , but prices will continue to reflect the "bath tub or L shaped" recovery which experts have been forecasting.

Again...If I sound foreboding, don't totally despair. Houses correctly priced and perceived by buyers as values WILL sell much more quickly than homes whose sellers are married to yesterday's less than realistic prices. Priced right = faster sales, and homes priced correctly will pass the appraisers "acid" test.

My expertise and insight is for Chicago's North Shore buyers OR sellers...but the fundamentals are national! Remember...Price right, stress curb appeal and remain optimistic and don't dump one agent for another without GOOD reason. If you hired a smart agent, ride the wave with him/her...and remember friends or relatives are not always the BEST agents.

Sellers still have time to sell THIS year...and buyers, with proper representation, can profit from the current condition of the market...be it here, there or anywhere!