Carlsbad Real Estate – It’s The Market
Posted by Susan "Sully" Sullivan | Visited 395 times, 1 so far today | Currently 2 Comments »
I got an email from a client who has been sitting on the fence (like so many of you out there!) and is maintaining his position that the bottom has yet to fall from the Carlsbad and San Diego real estate markets. 
“It’s the market”, he told me when I mentioned my frustration that so many of my sales are not coming together lately.
I beg to differ.
It’s the public’s perception of the market.
Whoever buys in this “market” is the one who has the best selection, best price, best interest rates, and the best shot at “buying low and selling high” when there is no more product out there; (we are at build out in Carlsbad) thereby leveraging the supply to the demand. Here’s what I know and facts that I live by in my business:
1. Real Estate values are determined by supply and demand. (And they always will be).
2. What goes down must go up. (Especially on the coast).
3. History repeats itself. (Need I say more?) History repeats itself.
It’s unfortunate that the media continues to contend the fear of entering the market.
I’m going on the record. We are living in the “then”. The “wish I would have bought then” then. People hesitating to enter the home buying market need to keep in mind the one wildcard that will snafu the “bottom” theory. And that is interest rates.
Each incremental interest rate hike will effect the buying power by thousands of dollars; so even if the prices are to go down some, with an increase in rates, the payments will be more. With the deflation of the dollar, the only way the feds can fight a recession is with an interest rate hike. And just like California earthquakes, it’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
In my experience there has never been a better time to enter the home buying market.
I can only lead the horses to the water. That’s what’s so frustrating.
Sure financing has gotten tough but there are still loan programs for buyers that can document their income. Take CalHFA, Nehemia, American Dream, etc. These DAP’s (down payment assistant programs) are still around. I ask people would you rather be chasing the market down to the bottom or chasing up to the top? When the market picks up, it’s going to take off; especially in areas like Carlsbad, Encinitas, and Carmel Valley. You are starting to see investors come back to pick up the good deals and that is one of the signs of a bottom/floor forming.
Keep this in mind… credit still is readily available for a majority of the buyers out there.
As a fellow Realtor, I am also very frustrated at the journalism that is plagueing our industry. A lot of us have seen the cycles of the past markets and understand that when interest rates are low and prices are low it is considered a good time to buy. There is a window, I believe to be NOW, before rates begin to rise and we see multiple offers. Which will lead to the upswing of real estate sales again. Yes, I understand that it doesn’t happen overnight, but historically speaking…it is inevitable.