Isn't it amazing the effect that the media has on our society? I live in Southern Indiana right across the bridge from Louisville, KY and their was an article in one of our local newspapers a while back spreading a "doom and gloom" forecast for our area. They even had quotes from a prominent Realtor in our area backing up their claims. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by it though. This seems to be the norm across the nation right now.
I can tell you I've heard numerous times from customers that they were hesitant about making a move right now because the market was down. Well, instead of just agreeing with them, I decided to do a little research and what I found was quite interesting. In our residential market from 12/9/04 to 12/9/05 there were 3517 houses sold for an average price of $137,670. From 12/9/05 to 12/9/06 there have been 3525 houses sold for $139,260. That's right, not only have there been more houses sold, but they've sold for MORE MONEY! I encourage everyone to stay on top of their market statistics instead of believing the hype or guessing.
My point being, don't let the media control the thoughts of your prospective buyers and sellers. Show them FACTS pulled from your local MLS to discredit all the naysayers.
Sensationalism sells. Try living in an area where they are claiming it is extremely overvalued and the value they use to determine this is house prices and real wages. Say a majority of the homeowners in your area do not make "real wages" such as vacation property owners, retirees, etc.
Reporters never question the formula they use for the statistics. They just report. Sucks to be us to educate the consumer and rest of the world sometimes!
how about weekly AR ads (ten thou members, one dollar each a week) say, full page in majore market areas and usa today and each of our major local papers; we could do that once a month and make quite a splash! lol
I just realized I don't know you guys very well. Let me say that it is a pleasure to meet you and that I do have whacky ideas sometimes; but I'm not really kidding with this one lol
Brett,
What if every member agent here did the same snapshot analysis as you? What would we discover? I think we would find out that many areas track with your findings.
See, there is a combination of factors that shape media coverage and message: not knowing, not asking, and not having time. (there are other factors as well, but these are the biggies)
We can change the message - and it wouldn't be hard or scary to do. We just need to decide to do it.
Those stats may work with certain buyers for sure. Others will shut down because they are "stats". They are definitely a tool in the arsenal.
Happpy Holidays
Christina, I'd be very interested in hearing from some other areas around the country.
Carmine, yes they are stats. You can't just pull out a stat sheet and then tell them to sign. The stat sheet is one tool in a box of many. The stat sheet is only to help combat the uninformed.
Look, we all know that real estate is definitely no science. All we can do is take the information we have in front of us and combine it with our experiences and make the best decisions possible.