Hattip to Tabitha for the mention of the Post's recognition of record September sales in Prince William County.
The article focuses on investors more than those buying a primary residence. It insinuated that those looking to buy for their own use were being pushed aside by cash-rich investors:
"Prices are low enough that it's an auctionlike competition when you go bidding for homes," said Maribel Alvarez, who specializes in foreclosures and short sales in Prince William. "Investors are purchasing low-end homes, so it's becoming harder and harder for first-time home buyers because banks are looking for 20 to 30 percent down."Did FHA (3% down) suddenly disappear? Did the reporter corroborate "20 to 30 percent down" with any first-time buyers or their real estate agents?
Here's another gem:
"Even with the surge in sales, there were more than 5,000 active listings in Prince William last month, down from 6,500 a year earlier.This is an interesting logical leap. Simply stating that there are 5,000 houses for sale does not prove there is an "oversupply" without telling us current and historical absorption rates. And we're also supposed to assume that because of this "oversupply" (how bad is it again?) that banks will keep slashing prices, in spite of record sales at current slashed prices.
Because of the oversupply, banks are likely to continue slashing prices, dragging down property values for nearby homeowners, in order to maintain a competitive advantage over other sellers."
The following was the only notable new piece of information that I gleaned from this article; I assume it's factual:
"There were 844 foreclosures in the county last month, land records show, up from 256 a year before and 40 in 2006".
2 comments:
Harriet, good points. I've said it before that the sales numbers in PW county are either showing that this is a bottom to prices there. Or at least a significant "support" level, to borrow a stock market term. There really should be no incentive for any seller to significantly lower prices as long as the inventory is moving at the current prices at 20-25%/month.
indeed good points.
Since when do banks actively try to compete with other sellers? As far as I can tell they mostly want to keep their prices as high as possible. This is just the usual Post garbage writing about real estate. I've become more and more annoyed with their "style" of inserting opinions regardless of facts or causality.
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