Doron F. Eghbali Residential Real Estate Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Residential Real Estate Recovery Remains Elusive

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 by Doron F. Eghbali

The latest data on residential real estate do not provide a rosy picture. In fact, the data indicate, overall, housing inventories rose for the eighth consecutive month in August of 2010. Let us explore the data further for more guidance.

SOME DETAILS

According to ZipRealty Inc., a real estate brokerage firm in CA:

The number of available homes for sale in 26 metropolitan areas rose at the end of August 2010 by .04% from one month earlier.
The data include single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses listed on multiple listing services in areas where ZipRealty Inc. mainly operates.
The August 2010 inventory demonstrates a 10.6% year-over-year increase in the number of unsold homes.
The number of unsold homes in some cities including Orange County, CA, Houston and Philadelphia remain at 18 months high.
The inventories are staggeringly up for these markets: San Diego by 59%, Orange County in CA and Los Angeles both by about 25%, compared to one year ago.

SOME HOPE? PROBABLY, PREMATURE

For the year, some inventories fell including in these cities: Miami by 8.6%, Chicago by 2.2% and Orlando, Florida by 2.2.%.
For the month, some inventories fell including in these cities: Austin, Texas by 3.8%, Charlotte, North Carolina by 3% and Boston by 2%.

SOME OBSERVATIONS

Probably, the most vexing problem facing sellers is they cannot lower their prices beyond what they owe on the property.
Similarly, buyers are waiting even for much lower prices.
Additionally, even if we see inventories in some markets are relatively falling, this might realistically mean sellers are taking the houses off the market because of rather unreasonable supply and demand dynamics.

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DORON EGHBALI a Partner at the Beverly Hills Offices of Law Advocate Group, LLP. He Primarily Practices Business, Rea l estate and Enter tainment Law. Doron Can Be Reached at: 310-612-6201. For More Information, Please, Visit: HERE.

Posted at 14:02 PM

Topic: Residential Real Estate