May 11th, 2008 8:20 AM by
Negative market reports continue to pervade the headlines but on a street level I am truly seeing more activity. I wish the negativity that is being dispelled would end as I do believe the news media is a self fulfilling prophecy. As for our area being affected I think we are living in an affluent area that is not so much affected but what we are seeing in the media. Just in the past couple of weeks I am getting tons of inquiries especially for rentals as these people are relocating and not sure enough about the various areas to be ready to commit to purchase.
Of course, our areas higher end properties 1,000,000 and up are just not so much affected by economic downtowns. As for the prices coming down and the bottom falling out as some economists would love to see, we have seen some price retraction in this area but not enough to warrant hysteria. If you purchased a home in 2004 and earlier chances are equity wise you are still okay. It's the 2005 & 2006 purchases that are experiencing the negative equity. If you don't have to move you should ride it out as you will have to pay to live somewhere right? If you enlisted yourself in a neg am loan product and overpaid for your house dealing with your lender and negotiating with them to change the structure of your loan is your best bet. Otherwise for the rest of us riding out the downturn in our cyclical market is our only option. If you have to sell please understand pricing your home at what your neighbors sold for 2 & 3 years ago is a thing of the past. Let's all accept it and move forward.