Monday, May 12, 2008

When you hear bad news about the real estate market....

The bad news comes primarily from two sources--the Case-Shiller Index and the misreporting of the foreclosure data. Whenever someone brings up a story based on this data, here's how to respond:

1. The Case-Shiller index only has complete data for sales of single family residences in nine states. Even in those nine states, it does not include condominiums, apartments, co-ops, or multi-family residences. So how accurate is this data when it doesn't even include all the sales in 82 percent of the states?

2. Most of the foreclosure data reports the number of "filings," not the number of properties in foreclosure. When you see one of these negative articles, read it carefully to determine if they are reporting the "filings." (U.S.A. Today does this regularly.) The problem with filings is that it reports the number of notices that have been filed on the property, not the number of properties actually in foreclosure. For example, a property in California with a first and a second equity line of credit that goes into foreclosure, would have a total of eight filings prior to the foreclosure taking place. Thus, the reporting may over report the foreclosures by up to 80 percent. In addition, somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of the loans that are in trouble are being worked out. This is great news....

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Updated Real Estate Price Trends for March 2008

Based on information from the MLS, the most sales occurred in S.E. Arlington (south of I-20 & east of Cooper), followed by Mansfield, followed by S.W. Arlington, followed by North Arlington. With prices falling nationally, our area saw less than a 1% drop in prices compared to last year.

For more information on the local real estate market for Arlington, Mansfield, and Kennedale, visit www.donlawyer.com.