Sales, Prices, Fall

Once again, existing home sales have fallen, according to the National Association of Realtors. October sales dropped 1.2 percent from September to 4.97 million, the fewest number since the NAR started tracking sales in 1999.

The year-to-year drop: a staggering 20.7 percent.

Median home prices also fell to $207,800.00, down 5.1 percent from a year ago.

So what’s the point? Why the attention to falling house prices, soaring foreclosures, and lower sales numbers? After all, the news is almost always beak; and when it’s not bleak, the news is only not-so-bleak. Why focus on it all?

It comes down to this: as a real estate investor, to be successful, you have to know and understand the broader forces at play in the overall real estate market. All of this has a direct, and potentially significant, effect on your business. If you don’t adjust or adapt your investment strategies, you can really set yourself up to get seriously hurt.

I’ve said it a thousand times: any closing from which you walk away with money in your pocket is a good one. Getting a check is much better than writing one.

As sales numbers fall, as prices fall, this is more true than ever.