The month of March was busier than the first two months of the year. We had total sales of 54 homes and inventory of approximately 950 active homes on the market. April has kicked off with a surge in buyers, due to the drop in interest rates. (Averaging 4.8%) Most buyers arrive at our office with a pre-qualification letter from their lenders. ALL buyers are looking for a deal, they are looking at properties in all price brackets and when they find a property, they offer a lower price.
This is common, however, that is when the negotiations begin, and normally we have a minimum of 4 counter offers. Price is everything in this market. On the progress report itself, I will suggest a new price on your property if I believe we need to adjust you list price downward. Remember, this is 100% a buyers market! Prices are beginning to settle with not much depreciation over the past 60 days except for homes that have been on the market for a while, and need to be reduced. This is good! There is talk in the media that the foreclosure rate is slowing, and sales are up. This news is good, hence the buyers that we have today. Keeping this in mind, we must continue with our marketing plan, and we must stay focused with all the news. My team is working harder than ever with buyers, spending many hours with them, educating them and hopefully, writing an offer of one or more after they understand the market in Big Bear. The Big Bear market is a specialty market, and that is another reason why we have buyers looking for deals! As I have mentioned before, we are amongst 12 million people in Southern Californian, and we offer a lake and two ski resorts… hence, our specialty, market. Even though the stock market has rallied in the past two weeks, many investors feel the stock market is a "bear trap", in another words, a false upswing. The unemployment rate and the financials are still struggling, so the upswing does not make sense right now. Real estate is valued well and it is tangible, hence our buyer market.
