Flight to Quality

Yet again Inman News has posted a really interesting article.  It is a Q&A with a Seattle-based Agent, Kirsten Mohan, who has some great insights into where the market is going and how it will get there.  

I particularly like this part of her answer to "how do you think the real estate market will be different when we recover from the current downturn?"

"... we'll see a return to quality after years of mediocrity. This will happen primarily because a more educated consumer base will demand better service from...real estate agents in particular...for many years, a part of the real estate agent's perceived value was the possession and dissemination of raw data to the consumer. That same consumer now has the opportunity to find an abundance of information online before ever contacting an agent..."

The whole interview is here...

This is a very, very astute observation.   Kirsten is absolutely correct that the agent's role is no longer just as a diseminator of information.  That information that was once closely guarded is now, thank to the internet, very free and available.  

Most agents will take that statement as a threat, but I view it as an opportunity, and I think that Kirsten does too.  It is an opportunity because it creates a marketplace where only agents that bring real value to their relationships with clients will succeed.  They no longer can rely on the intrinsic value of their proprietary information.  

Now, agents will present value by being the expert in negotiating for their clients, being able to help them navigate through the complex buying/selling process, and also will create value by leveraging their networks.  Not only networks of other professionals that clients will need to utilize, but also networks of contacts that present the potential buyer (or seller) that their client is looking for.  

That will be the value, going forward, that each person engaging a real estate agent should be looking for in thier business partners.  

Finally, Some Positive News In The Market

This article made the front page of the Asbury Park Press today. While it is positive news, they do their best to spin it negatively, but I find the fact that we have stopped losing ground in home prices to be a positive sign. Especially when nationally prices fell another 5% in the same time period versus our half-percent gain.

Here is the full story:

Home prices in Ocean and Monmouth counties rise a notch
By David P. Willis • BUSINESS WRITER • February 14, 2008

Home prices in the area that includes Monmouth and Ocean counties inched up in the fourth quarter, rising by 0.5 percent from the same period the year before, the National Association of Realtors said today.

The median sale price for an existing single-family home in Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Somerset counties was $370,300, up $1,800, from $368,500 in the same quarter in 2006, the association said. The median means that half the homes in the area sold for more and half sold for less.

But the slight increase is not an indication the housing market is turning around, said economist James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University."

The market was virtually flat," said Hughes said. "It suggests that the market is far from rebounding and it may signal that there is weakness ahead."

Other areas of New Jersey saw steeper increases by percentage.

For instance, the median price in an area that includes Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex and Union counties rose 5.3 percent, and the price in the region that includes Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties rose 3.6 percent. Atlantic County's median price rose 10.7 percent. Nationally, prices fell 5.8 percent, according to the real estate association.

If you are a home buyer or seller interested in being interviewed on this topic for an Asbury Park Press story, please contact David P. Willis at (732) 643-4039 or dwillis@app.com.