Recently, there has been a decline in real estate properties being bought since last fall. The decline in house sales last fall has left a number of unsold real estate properties in suburban areas as the big spring selling season approaches, according to many real estate experts. The number of properties for sale jumped 54 percent to 4,077 as of recently, compared to a year earlier these real estate experts are saying. The data they rely on include all the suburbs surrounding the large cities, extending out to the open land in rural areas; the cities themselves were excluded.
Some real estate agents expect this large supply of housing to be compounded by new sellers entering the real estate market for the first time in February and March, which typically begins the busiest season for land for sale. Many real estate experts are saying that they will be overstocked with land for sale and properties for sale because they will be acquiring more land for sale in the near future. Real estate agents are split over what the sizable jump in inventory will do to buyers and sellers. In addition, they are worried about the impact it will have on sales and prices of properties. Most real estate agents are banking on a lowering of price expectations among buyers and sellers, who have witnessed years of rapidly rising prices amid a feeling that housing supply was limited. But now prices have softened, they say, and if sellers drop asking prices to more realistic levels, buyers are poised to move in and jump on the land for sale. Last year was a real awakening for the rise in number of properties for sale. Now, it seems buyers and sellers know the market's changed, and are concerned about getting their land for sale before land prices rise up too high. Last year, nobody knew about the real estate trouble, because no one really paid attention.
There are the "more experienced" real estate agents that have been around enough to make foresee the future and not see buyers coming out of the woodwork to snap up bargains and shrink bloated inventories of land for sale. Many first-time buyers or renters of real estate properties have indicated they will continue to watch the market, hoping prices fall further.
Many sellers reduced their asking prices of their land for sale sharply at the end of last year to sell their homes and other real estate properties. Yet, the median price of single-family homes sold in the fall, $354,000, was still slightly higher than a year earlier, according to many real estate experts. From January through November, statewide home sales were about 3 percent below 2004 sales.
There are various explanations for the sharp increase in the number of properties for sale. For one, unsold properties are sitting longer. Homes and properties for sale have been on the market for an average of 93 days, up from 84 days a year ago. But real estate agents also said the surge in inventories of real estate properties was based on unusually low inventories in early 2005, when the market was still booming.
As of now, real estate experts predicted a tough spring for sellers. In April, May, and June, there is typically a surge of new listings of properties for sale that come on the market, and they expect more this year because so many listings of properties for sale expired unsold. Those do not currently appear as active listings and will return to the listings in coming weeks or months as new properties for sale.
