The View from Here, August 2008

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The View from Here, August 2008

I have an alternative version of the View From here for the month of August, and I typed it a couple of weeks ago. This one is different from that one. I'm still feeling a bit whiplashed!

Buyers came back with a vengeance earlier this month. It was, seriously, crazy. There were a bunch of offers written, and you know what happened?

The Sellers told them (well, not all) but alot of them to go away. I called it "Revenge of the Sellers." The Buyers came in with discounted offers, and the Sellers rejected, or countered at full price.

Now there are some upset Buyers out there. And some upset Sellers.

The Buyers think that the Sellers should be happy for any offer, and many (but not all) of the Sellers (and a few quite foolishly I might add) are saying "I don't REALLY have to sell" or " I just can't take less!" (The Latter, I've learned from personal experience, BTW, being a terrible reason to reject or counter an offer in a declining market.....)

For some of the deals we were able to put together, (and this is incredible) A much higher percentage of them were unable to obtain financing! Anywhere!

...And now.....Appraisals are coming in low! Yikes. Never has a Seller been able to exert so little control over a transaction in this town (check out You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login).

The future looks really uncertain, but the Buyers keep piling up, and the market data keeps supporting it. YTD pending sales (Although this is now becoming an inaccurate metric, because more deals are flying apart than ever before) are the same in the Hood River Market, year over year. Average price is up (but this is an anomaly, there are a few, very expensive homes that have sold, and then a flock of lower priced homes, skewing the average price slightly higher.)

Outside the Core Cities, it continues to be rough. Skamania County is down 57% In number of pending sales, with a 3.4% decrease in median sale price, and more to come, I'm sure.

Klickitat is down almost 30% in pending sales with a 4% decrease in median sale price. Some of this could be the composition of the units (More cheaper properties selling because of the difficulty of Buyers qualifying) But it sure looks rough.
There are so many transactional challenges to closing a deal right now, that the only way to compensate is through Seller concession. Right now, it's having less and less to do with the property, and everything to do with the team. And the Down payment. Oh, and the FICO, and the Appraisal.

Have I made my point? See you next month.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login></div>

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