Posts Tagged with "realtors"

Market Activity Affected by Economy

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - By Gate Arty

As the unemployment rate hovers around 9%, most economists expect that the rate of foreclosures will account for approximately 60% of mortgage defaults this year alone. The next wave of foreclosures is expected to include not only the “sub-prime” mortgages, but also those who have been traditionally financially healthy, but have been affected by job-loss.  As a result of these foreclosures, housing prices are expected to decline overall. Do not expect to see price declines at ALL price points however. Many realtors have expressed that in some of the moderate price ranges, prices have become so attractive that buyers are jumping back into the fray in waves. In many instances buyers & sellers are once again involved in “multiple offer negotiations.” This has been scarce since the real estate boom of 2006. The home price decline that has resulted from the increasing number of foreclosures, tighter lending standards, & large supply of unsold inventory will eventually spur activity. With mortgage interest rates still at all-time lows, many buyers are viewing NOW as the time to act upon golden buying opportunities. According to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, home prices in the U.S. fell by 18.7% in March from a year earlier.

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Customer Satisfaction Winner

Thursday, August 28, 2008 - By Gate Arty

Keller Williams Realty ranks highest among real estate companies in satisfying home buyers according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study. The inaugural study measures customer satisfaction of home buyers and sellers with the largest national real estate firms. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining three factors for the home-buying experience: agent (65%); office (21%); and services (13%). In the home-buyer segment, Keller Williams achieves a score of 831 on a 1,000-point scale, and receives highest ratings from customers in all three factors.

The study finds that despite the popularity of home-buying and -selling resources on the Internet, real estate agents are key to customer satisfaction with real estate companies. A large proportion of both home buyers and sellers rely on the Internet to facilitate the buying or selling process, with 68 percent of buyers saying that they used Internet tools to help them in the purchase process and 61 percent of sellers reporting that they used a Web site listing to market their home. In addition, among home sellers, online methods are the most important aspect of marketing. However, the agent factor carries the greatest importance among the factors that comprise overall satisfaction among both home buyers and sellers.

The study also finds that the average time a home for sale remained on the market was slightly more than six months, although home sellers represented by the top-ranking real estate companies report that their homes were on the market for slightly less time—approximately five and a half months, on average.

Additional noteworthy study findings include the following:

• Nearly one-half of respondents (46%) report using recommendations from family or friends to find their real estate agent.
• Approximately 28 percent used the Internet, while 23 percent used an agent   they had used  previously and 11 percent used a printed real estate guide.
• On average, home buyers were shown approximately 13 homes before making a purchase.
• Home sellers report that, on average, their home was shown approximately 11 times and approximately five open houses were conducted before the sale occurred.

The 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes 3,670 evaluations from 3,205 respondents who bought or sold a home between April 2007 and June 2008.

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