Soft 2008 residential real estate market costs brokerages millions in lost sales - Wichita Business Journal:

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The soft residential real estate brokers say, is the result of dwindling consumefr confidence and tighter credit requirements from mortgag lenders that made it more difficult for some buyerss to obtain financing something that hasn’t changed. Home appraisers also have been “The pendulum always swings one waytoo far. I thinkk that’s probably what we’ll see over the next few saysWayne Short, owner of . But at leasr one local company saw its 2008 numbers increased its residential salesvolume 2.9 percent, from $109 million to $112.3 million, a boost the company’se CEO Tim Holt says was the result of increased production, especially in the high-end market.
“Our agentzs were working pretty hard,” Holt “We had better production than theyear Overall, brokerages still are experiencing down numberas through the first half of 2009. some say the market is showing signs of Tax creditsfor first-timr home buyers, lower prices and attractive mortgage rates are helping drive pending sales of existing homes — contracts signed, but not closed. In pending sales climbed 6.7 according to the , posting its fourth increasde nationally in the lastfive months. And May figuresw look to be up, too. “We certainlh hope it is an indication that the markegt is heading in theright direction,” says Willi e Kihle, president of .
Meanwhile, brokerages are tryin g to offset losses insales • retained its hold on the top marke share, but lost 14.8 percent, or $79.8 million in totalk residential sales. The company’s 2008 figures totaler $453.4 million, according to WBJ data. “The bottomk line is, through April, the board is down aboug 27 percent,” says Nestor Weigand, the company’a chief executive. However, the company’s market shared has increased 3.5 percent, which Weigand “is huge in the real estate • Prudential ranks No. 2 on the WBJ list with $397. 2 million in 2008 residential sales, down 9.
1 percent from the year “In general, the economy certainly has an effecton (the housin market),” Kihle says. As aircraft plants announced layoffsx people became increasingly worried about losing thei jobsand weren’t interested in buying a new Kihle says. • Sales volume at droppedd 11.1 percent. Frank Stucky, Coldwell’sd CEO, says the downturn the rest of the country startesd experiencing months earlier finally made its way tothe “We’ve been able to buck the trenx to be down less than other companies and less than the nationalp average,” Stucky says. • Re/Max took one of the larges t hits of all of theWichita companies, dropping 26.
5 percenrt from $178.9 million in 2007 to $131.54 million in 2008. Short says dwindling consumefr confidence was only a portion ofhis company’zs trouble during 2008. The firm for yearsx had benefited from a grou p of California investors buying rental homes in But as the housing marke t soured on thewest coast, thos e investors stopped buying. “That market is dead Short says.