My Lubbock TX Real Estate Blog

I was really intrigued today as I read the business section of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal.  There were 2 articles discussing the "doom & gloom" of the real estate and mortgage industry.  One article, written by Rachel Beck of the Associate Press, almost seemed giddy over the fact that the CEO of D.R. Horton stated that this year would be an awful year for home sales.  Of course, Beck is such a real estate expert that she called D.R. Horton, "D.H. Horton" while acknowledging that they are America's #1 home builder based on number of units sold.

The gist of the article was that Donald Tomnitz, Horton's CEO, is the ONLY real estate person to acknowledge that the real estate industry is in a mess.  She basically goes on to accuse the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and other real estate experts, of fraud for not making the same acknowledgement as Tomnitz.

The reality is that SOME real estate markets are struggling and seeing declining home prices.  However, the TRUTH is that many real estate markets are seeing great growth.  To say that the entire real estate industry as a whole is in trouble is far from accurate.  In fact, there is an article on MSNBC's website that talks about major markets doing well in real estate right now.  You can view that article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16929669.

Just goes to show like every other topic in the news, you have to be careful to verify the source and accuracy of information.

If you read my 2006 real estate report (which you can download from my website), you know that we saw an anomaly in the Lubbock market the last quarter of 2006.  Instead of continuing a downward trend of active listings into the end of the year as normal, we actually saw an increase in the number of active listings.  In fact, our active listing inventory reached levels comparable to the peak month of July.

In evaluating the recent market data over the weekend, I was glad to see that the month of January finally broke that trend.  Since January, we have started that uphill climb of active listings again.  However, we have seen a little relief in the overall inventory for the moment.  Nonetheless, we are still seeing active inventory levels comparable to the peak time last summer.  Therefore, sellers should not relax thinking that they don't need to do all the things I discussed in previous posts.

The chart below shows you the residual inventory levels up through February.  The graph legend is as follows:

Blue = # of homes under contract

Green = # of new listings

Yellow = residual inventory

This graph is just PART of my Market Track Analysis that my clients have access to.  I hope you find it helpful.

That's right, many home sellers think there IS gold in their walls when it comes to pricing their home to sell!  Picking up where I left off last time, many sellers are facing a tough reality in our current market:  Nice isn't good enough.  Although we are not in a "hardcore" buyer's market, we are in a market that has a lot of seller competition.

Many sellers are having a tough time understanding that although they have a "nice" home, the market demands that you update if you want to sell for top dollar and in a timely manner.  While updating is necessary to obtain top dollar, it is easy to spend more than you can make back from the sale of your home.  That is why sellers need a highly skilled & highly trained professional to make sure they get the most "bang for the buck" without overdoing it.

Just this morning, I had a call from a seller who wanted to know if putting in granite counter tops would be a good idea to help their home sell faster.  They had a resource that was going to give them a REALLY good price on the granite.  The correct answer?  Depends on several factors, but it will be different for each situation.  That's why you need a market expert to guide you through those decisions.

Curious about which updates are right for your home?  Give me a call, and let's talk about it!  You can reach me at 784-3233.

I've really been intrigued by the mentality of many out-of-town buyers who are making offers on Lubbock real estate lately.  As you probably know, Lubbock has a reputation nationally of having cheap real estate.  That reputation is well earned when you compare prices in our market vs. other markets, even in Texas.

One of my clients, who is moving to Arizona, has begun shopping for a home out there.  What he found was that a brand new 1,300 square foot home is running around $213,000.  That same home in Lubbock would probably sell in the low $100,000s.

While real estate in Lubbock is less expensive than many parts of the country, it certainly is not a flee market.  We are seeing many low offers from out-of-town buyers who are getting caught up in the national media hype that the real estate market is terrible.

The reality is that Lubbock's real estate market is very healthy and continues to be very active.  The good news for home sellers is that homes are still selling on average of about 97-98% of the asking price when they are priced correctly to begin with.  In addition, Lubbock's average turnover time is still hoovering around 3-3 1/2 months, which is very good when compared on a national scale.

That being said, there is enough seller competition to keep sellers honest on their pricing.  I'll talk more about that in my next post.

In my continual commitment to provide the highest level of service to the Lubbock area real estate market, I am proud to introduce my new blog.  To my knowledge, I am one of the first, if not the first, real estate agent to provide a real estate blog in Lubbock.

On average, I will post my observations and thoughts on the real estate market 2 times a week.  Feel free to post your own comments and thoughts as well.

Be watching for my next post when I discuss my concerns about a trend in buyers' offers I've been seeing.

Talk to you soon!