Guest blogger – market update from Liesl Mordhorst


It’s Still a Buyer’s Market
If you were curious who had the upper hand nowadays in the real estate market, it appears it’s still the home buyers, according to real estate info service Zillow.

Buyers paid 3.3 percent, or nearly $7,039, below the final listing price on homes for sale during July.

Yes, nearly a quarter (22.8%) of all homes listed for sale on Zillow had at least one price reduction as of September 1.

The median home price reduction was 6.5 percent off the original listing price; homes listed for sale on Zillow during August were listed for a median 96 days, up from 91 in July.

Of course it wasn’t all bad news for home sellers; that 3.3 percent discount was less than the 3.5 percent ($7,630) discount in June, and down from the 4.6 percent ($10,260) reduction seen in January.

“The strong summer selling season in 2009 has led to a decreasing difference between the last listing price and final sale price, but most buyers are still getting some additional discount at selling time,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

“We expected list-to-sale price ratios to fall as the sales volume picked up during the summer, and the California markets are showing strong declines in the discount off the last listing price, relative to levels at the start of the year. This is fueled both by increased sales and high proportion of foreclosures re-sales, which are already priced relatively low.”

Florida homebuyers had the most room to negotiate in July, with buyers in the Vero Beach MSA paying 10.2 percent, or a median $23,500, less than the last listing price.

The opposite was true in El Centro, California, where home buyers paid 1.8 percent, or a median $2,150, more than the listing price.

Liesl Mordhorst
Home Financing Professional
Alpine Mortgage Services, Inc.
2150 N 107th St Ste 480
Seattle, WA 98133

liesl@alpinemtg.com
phone (206) 683-2382
fax (206) 529-3331
(800) 394-4464, ext 131


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