Sellers Market or Buyers Market?

In the spirit of learning on the fly, as the countdown to my license continues, I have started to immerse myself in reading and learning about the market and how it affects real estate. To those that know me, this kind of talk would elicit a "Who are you and what have you done to Laura?" kind of comment. It's all about cycles folks...I have begun a new phase and this is now utterly fascinating stuff to me!

Some of the reading I've been doing...

The Real Deal
According to Mr.Watson, there is more to this magazine then just a lot of advertising, and he's right.

Housing Predictor
According to their website, “Housing Predictor provides independent real estate market forecasts for more than 250 cities in all 50 U.S. States and housing news.” They have some great articles to read up on too.

I have also started to keep up with some blogs. One that I enjoy not only because of the information but the tone, very tongue in cheek, in which it is written, is called URBANDIGS . One article I think is very interesting to read as we process the latest market crisis is ” Bidding in a Market That Buyers Feel 'Should' Be Fearful”. I am going to quote the first part of that blog here to get you started.

"Almost all other markets outside NYC are experiencing fierce seller competition where battles take place to be the most aggressively priced property on the open market. The result is asking prices some 20%-30% below peak levels. Yet in Manhattan, this is not the case. This leaves buyers wondering why the Manhattan real estate market is not filled with more fear, considering the events we are facing. It also leaves sellers in a state of 'wishful thinking' and 'hope' as their competition is priced at or near peak levels. This combination is likely to lead to the adjustment phase.

I can't stress enough the role that hope/anchoring & confidence play in a housing market in times like these. Anchoring affects the sell side while confidence affects the buy side. The combination of these two mental forces lead to real changes. When I say anchoring, I mean the psychology of sellers to anchor themselves to a fixed point (in this case a price, perhaps from a previous higher sale), even though that point has no more relevance in today's marketplace."

If any kind soul happens upon my blog and would like to recommend other sources of information by all means leave a comment or email me.