Fourth Quarter, 1998
Virtually overnight the strong Sellers market of 1997 and early 1998 has vanished. What brought this on? Probably a combination of factors, including very aggressive pricing by Sellers/agents, many Buyers already successfully completing their transactions, a dramatic decrease in local wealth due to stock market declines, and global political economic uncertainty.
I anticipate local home prices will remain relatively constant into the near future. The inventory of homes offered for sale continues to be low. Interest rates are still very attractive for homebuyers. I expect the statistics for the remainder of the year to show a significant decrease in the number of transactions compared to the second half of 1997. |
