Boom Going Bust

From the New York Times:

The Houses That Wouldn’t Move

The Balduccis put their 1951 colonial on the market in early May. They held seven open houses, drawing 10 or so potential buyers, but they still had not gotten a single offer as of early August — even after they dropped their asking price to $539,000 from $589,000.

“It’s very depressing,” Ms. Balducci said, adding that at least seven houses in her neighborhood had been on the market for at least as long as theirs. “It’s a little scary for us, too, because we very shortly may be in a position where we have to carry two mortgages.”
...
“A year ago, this house would have sold within two weeks maximum, and they would have easily gotten close to $600,000,” she said. “This really shows you what’s going on right now. It’s like the market just collapsed.”
...
In many cases, buyers and sellers have reached a wary stalemate.

“We’re at a point where sellers don’t want to lower their prices and buyers don’t want to raise their bids,” said Roberta Plutzik Baldwin, a broker at Re/Max Village Square in Upper Montclair, N.J. “Houses that are priced properly are selling, but buyers are now saying, ‘Wait a second, the market is stabilizing, so why should I pay $20,000 more when I could pay less?’ ”
...
“Agents aren’t telling people to get less than a house is worth; they’re just getting the asking prices down to where they should be,” he said. “People are finally starting to understand that even if they could have gotten more for their house last year, it’s not last year.”
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“It seems like the boom kind of ended with everybody’s talk of the bubble bursting,” he said. “I think all the talk actually made it happen.”
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According to the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service, the inventory of single-family homes in Bergen, Hudson, Passaic and Essex Counties was up 49 percent in June, to 6,768, compared with 4,538 in June 2005. The median sales price was up 3 percent, to $470,000; each of the previous five years had seen double-digit increases, going to $455,000 in 2005 from $275,000 in 2000.

Marc and Pamela Ross of Fair Lawn, N.J., looked at 25 houses in New Jersey last year, but never made an offer because prices were too high, they said. They resumed their house hunt a few weeks ago when they saw prices start to go down. Recently they were looking at a two-story colonial in Englewood that was listed at $424,900.

“You realize now some of these houses now are in our reach,” Mrs. Ross said, as they toured an open house in Englewood one recent Sunday.

I don't believe we are near the "bottom" of the market, a statement like that is not based in reality. Marc, Pamela, and everyone else looking to purchase right now, I suggest you wait. Ignore the media, ignore the real estate industry, use your head and make an informed decision.

Caveat Emptor!
Grim