Westcoe Realtors, Riverside California…While we have expounded on today’s subject matter before in previous blogs, it’s been a while…and an article that appeared in the Press Enterprise Newspaper on Tuesday, July 27 is a perfect example of why any reader of any real estate information from any source should know if the subject matter is from a national viewpoint or a local viewpoint. The reason that this is so critical for the Riverside area is that national statistics have almost no bearing on our local market…but if the reader is not careful, they will get the wrong idea on what is really happening in our neighborhood.
The article in question in Tuesday’s paper was titled Homebuyers surpass expectations and what really caught our eye was the following sentence from the third paragraph:
“Even so, increasing foreclosures are swelling the number of unsold existing homes, putting pressure on prices and keeping buyers on the sidelines…”
While we cannot comment on the validity of this sentence on a national level, almost every word of that sentence is the exact opposite of what is happening in our Riverside/Inland Empire area.
Let’s breakdown the sentence and discuss it a bit.
“Increasing foreclosures are swelling the number of unsold existing homes…” Oh my goodness…has anybody been reading our previous blogs? Our inventory here in Riverside is falling faster than Mel Gibsons script offers, as the banks are sitting on their foreclosures and hoarding them like Scrooge McDuck hoards his money. We have no swelling inventory, and our number of unsold existing homes is minimal. Our previous blogs on the latest MLS statistics bear this out. No Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore, and our foreclosures are not swelling anything but the bank drawers in which they reside.
“…putting pressure on prices…” The word pressure assumes that the large number of foreclosures are causing prices to go lower as they flood the market, etc. Again, maybe nationally, but certainly not here. Our prices in the lower price ranges ($100,000-$300,000) are actually rising in many areas, and even our upper ranges are getting slightly better. Don’t misunderstand us…prices still have a long way to go before anyone says they “are back”…but based upon our latest statistics we showed in our previous two blogs, pricing is not feeling any pressure to go down at the moment. Quite the contrary.
“…and keeping buyers on the sidelines..” Wow…another statement from an alternate real estate universe. In our Riverside area, we have far more buyers than inventory, and they are all fighting over the same pieces of cheese. We need more houses to sell, period. The only thing that is possibly keeping buyers on the sidelines is the frustration of having to compete with so many other buyers in the bidding wars that are taking place on most properties. Trust us…at today’s interest rates and prices, buyers are chomping at the bit to be able to purchase a home. If this is the sidelines, I’d hate to see the game!
In the end, we do not fault the Press Enterprise for the article. As we said, the information may be totally accurate for other parts of the country…but just not here…and that is our point. In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with information from a variety of sources, and it is critical that we as a consumer understand the difference between a national phenomena and a local one…because at least in the real estate business, it can make the difference between you getting a home, or “waiting the sidelines” for prices to fall from “all the foreclosures” that are coming…because for now, that dog won’t hunt…at least not in Riverside.
Take care, and thanks for reading.
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