Gee! I am asked that question so often! And I'm always happy to respond!
Real Estate is such an unusual business. There are vast differences from state to state and region to region. And then there are vast differences from the experiences of one agent to the next, so that when I respond to that question, it can't be all about me and how much business I am doing. This business, even when worked full time and full speed ahead, can be very cyclical as far as personal income is concerned. In other words, you can work til you drop, do a great job and not make any money for months at a time. However, taken as a whole, from year to year, all your efforts ultimately pay off as long as you work with honesty and integrity and put the client first.
OK. So how is the business doing here along the Central Coast of California? You can read my Quarterly Newsletter on my main webpage but in a nutshell, we have 1/2 the inventory today that we did 2 years ago and twice the number of sales! Also, today 70% of the foreclosures are in escrow as compared to this time last year when only 30% of the foreclosures were in escrow.
The end result is that property is selling, we SEEM to have reached the bottom of the price drops, people want to buy especially at the low end of the market, and multiple offers in that category are frequent. There is much more activity across the entire spectrum of property types and prices than this time last year as well.
I believe the only thing keeping this downturn from returning to an upswing in activity is the job market here.
That will change. It's like getting a loaded freight train moving again from a complete standstill. The start up is slow and careful but when it starts moving again it will chug along quite nicely. When? My prediction is that by this time next year, we'll have a fairly stable market with slight appreciation. I'm certainly no economist. It's just what I see from my desk at Re/Max overlooking the pretty downtown park in Paso and watching people come and go at the local businesses.
The real estate market will return to this area more quickly than other places because this is such a great place to live. Ask me why anytime! Joanie 805-674-1968