Have We Reached The Bottom Of The Real Estate Market? Who Cares?

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With the alarming news from Wall Street this weekend that Bank of America has decided to buy troubled investment firm Merrill Lynch, it has taken some of the focus away from the demise of Lehman Brothers. However Lehman and Merrill are pretty much synonymous with what has and continues to be wrong with the housing crisis. The collapse of these two pillars of Wall Street underscores the loss of confidence that investors have in any financial institution that decided to “play” in the sub-prime mortgage market.So who is next? Washington Mutual seems to be availing itself of the top spot of failing bank of the week. Now we have Barney Frank and his cohorts looking to beat an October 1 deadline to allow what is basically more of the same by allowing the down payment assistance programs to continue with their efforts to be co-conspirators in future foreclosures.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, the Federal Reserve may be meeting soon to lower interest rates yet again, all the while foreclosure filings are up and the National Association of Realtors claim it is a great time to buy a house.

While for some with good credit and sizeable down payments there are some great deals to be had in the real estate market, how is everyman America going to get some well needed REM sleep to realize the fading American Dream? Where is the declaration of the bottoming out of the housing market which has been in a freefall for some time?

Despite Merrill Lynch’s fall from grace, I am still bullish on real estate and the economy even if the “bull” is not owned by Bank Of America. I truly feel that with the right guidance and due diligence, a great deal can be found on a home and the prudent informed and well protected buyer does not need to hear a declaration of the “bottom of the housing market”.

To me, and I am not an economist by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it is very easy to see the point at which the housing market will begin to rise again. The one aspect of data that I believe guides the market is the absorption rate. Having two years plus of inventory tells me that the bottom is somewhat of a way off. You see supply and demand have some influence in the pricing as well. Howevr, people are still buying. They are shopping at a discount which isn’t a bad thing at all. Here in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market we have yet to have a zero sale month so obviously people are still buying.

The problem is that foreclosures keep rising, real estate agents don’t know how to do short sales, loss mitigation departments are a joke and REO sales are creating the comparables. The market lacks cohesion and efficiency. Too many different parties involved in baking the same cake.

Just yesterday we went to one of my listings because we had a call that someone was breaking in. They were, by order of the bank! The bank, who is not the owner, told their crew to break into the home and do a cleanout. They thought the home was abandoned. I guess the for sale sign out front wasn’t enough for them to go on.

Our market is in chaos. I believe that once order is restored and business is allowed to transact with a sense of normalcy, we will see the rebound of the housing market in earnest.

Until then, let’s pick the carcasses clean and look for the best deals we can possibly find.

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