POSITIVE SIGNS IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

Wow, I have to get back to the blog. The last 4 months have been busier than the previous 8 months and I have 3 additional people working for me!

Anyway, I received the following email about the positive signs in the real estate market. I am seeing them here. Well I am experiencing it too, that's why I am so busy.

Attention all agents,If you think real estate sales are dead then Check out the awesome article from Forbes regarding the Phoenix Real Estate Market!! Real Estate Where U.S. Home Sales Are Rising, Matt Woolsey, 01.12.09, 04:00 PM EST Motivated sellers in these 10 cities are fueling deals and hastening recoveries.In Depth: America's Best Cities For Home Buyers Something funny's happening in Las Vegas. Home sale prices from last year are down 28%, but home sales are up 15%.The reason? Motivated sellers--those in distress or foreclosure--or banks with too many homes on the books are slashing asking prices in order to unload their properties. Motivated sellers in Las Vegas accounted for 64% of salesin October, the highest rate in the country according to Radar Logic, a New York-based derivatives firm that provided the data for this story. Yahoo! Buzz That means buyers are getting deals and hastening Las Vegas' recovery.In fact, buyers are eating up inventory fast enough that the discounts offered by motivated sellers are tightening as supply contracts. The difference between what motivated sellers have to offer and what non-motivated sellers can command has held steady for three months at a 17% discount, versus the 33% national average. So while it's still a buyers' market, prices have dropped to a level that's stimulated demand."There's a pretty active housing market, it's simply at a lower-priced inventory,"says Michael Feder, chief executive of Radar Logic. "And there are now bidding wars taking place over homes in foreclosure."In Depth: America's Best Cities For Home Buyers Other cities are experiencing the same. In markets flush with motivated sellers,such as Phoenix and San Diego, transactions are up 10% and 90% respectively,as buyers are starting to compete for available deals. All are bright spots in an otherwise dark economic climate. While in many cities, potential homeowners are waiting to see how low prices will fall before buying, in places with highly motivated sellers, prices have dropped far and fast enough to rekindle sales. While foreclosures continue to rise,and Credit Suisse (nyse: CS - news - people ) estimates 8.1 million more of them through 2012, financially solvent buyers are finding good deals at price points and mortgages they can afford. "We're clearing out the bad news," says Kiva Patten, a director at Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ) specializing in housing derivatives. He says that continued price drops and uncertainty have kept many out of the marketplace but that some markets have reached a price level that's drawing in buyers. "If everyone is expecting bad news, when you get the bad news,and it's out of the way, that's good. Individual buyers start to come back into the marketplace."Reprinted courtesy of Forbes News Lets start getting the good news out about the awesome buys that can be had in our Phoenix market. It's our obligation to get this news out to the public.Send this article to your sphere and clients and let's bring some hope and inspiration to the Phoenix metro area real estate market."Protecting and Promoting Your Success With Integrity" Jim Kellander Managing Broker Keller Williams Integrity First Realty

Thanks Jim

Just my opinion,
Jeff Cameron