The Real Estate Market July 2009

Got Inventory?

The buzzword for the market's second and third quarters, as inventory shrivels and fierce competition returns to upper entry levels ($300 - $600K).

Pick a zip code, any zip code....

The 90007 zip code which encompasses over 100 city blocks, shabby patches and glorious enclaves, dollhouses and manor houses, sports 10 single family listings.  Ten.  Diez. 

Of those ten, one will require an all-cash or hard money purchase, owing to condition issues. Another, a probate, has a previously accepted offer and is awaiting court confirmation.  Four are short sales, of which three have already netted offers, and are correspondingly disinclined to show, as they grapple with obstreperous note holders.  

Ten is the new five.  "The numbers," I tell my stat-tracking crazies, imitating Edward G. Robinson's Johnny Rocco, "ain't the 

numbers."

The Unsold Inventory Index, measured in the number of months it would take to deplete supply, were home sales to continue at the current pace--without refreshment, stood in June at 3.6 months.  A far cry from January 2008's bloated 14.5 months. 

But back to 90007 and the furious five: one is a bank-owned 

property that "shows" as active, despite an accepted offer.  Even though agent/brokers can be fined for not updating the status of 

their listings timely (from 'active' to 'pending' or 'looking for backup'), REO (bank owned) brokers, perhaps in response to a higher level of aborted transactions, are notoriously delinquent.  Some brokers regard a noncompliance fine as the cost of doing business, and only perform status updates when a buyer has removed all contingencies (typically 17 days into a transaction).  

Finally, a listing on 20th ST is subject to interior inspection only.  Which requires a buyer to write an offer interior sight unseen.  A proposition, contingencies notwithstanding, most buyers reject.  

Ten = three.  Got Inventory?