Like politics, all real estate values are local. National data is misleading and, for all but the National Association of Realtors and the mainstream media, irrelevant. If we want to sell our home in New York and buy one in South Carolina, do we really care about inventory levels and average selling prices nationwide?
RealtyTimes.com gets down to the local level and is fun to navigate, although the information is more anecdotal than crisp. Agents in hundreds of markets nationwide report into the site and assign a buyers' market or sellers' market designation to the areas they cover. They also indicate whether prices are rising or falling. Both measures are on scales of 1 to 5, with 1 indicating buyers' market and falling prices, and 5 for sellers' market and rising prices.
For the most part, recent realtor reports seem balanced. For example, Asheville, NC, is still a fairly strong sellers' market but the price trend is neutral. Across the state in New Bern, buyers have a modest upper hand but prices are actually rising a little. Charlotte is neither a buyers nor sellers market, but prices are firmly up.
But some realtors can't resist the hard sell. In Nags Head, NC, for example, one realtor - a couple actually - rate their area the strongest buyers' market, with a neutral price trend. What their prose description lacks in precision, though, it more than makes up for in promotion, as in "This is the perfect time to invest in the Nags Head market. There are excellent opportunities right now, and we are beginning to see the market pick up, so they won't last long." Hmmm, could they be auditioning for the open position of chief economist at the NAR?
Web site: RealtyTimes.com
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