But this is uncharted territory. We've never seen this kind of destruction. There are relief efforts down there and you have real estate agents as refugees. There is too little known at this time. |
If you're on a flood plain, obviously that's an issue. And in the mountains there can be fire concerns. |
It's higher than we were expecting. We were expecting about a 4.6 percent rise. |
It's not like all of the buyers fell off a cliff. There are still people in the market during this time, just fewer. Some people think it's a great time to buy or sell. |
Our cabin is worth less than half our primary residence yet we're paying a lot more. And our premium just went up 56 percent. |
Our survey doesn't explain why. It gets down to being as simple as women have a better understanding of housing as a long-term investment. Single guys are more interested in consumption. They don't get serious about real estate until they meet the right woman. |
Seller concessions have not been common in the last five years. Sellers haven't had to offer them. But as we become more balanced, especially in areas of high inventory, that's where you'll see the use of concessions become a bit more common. |
There are just too many unknowns right now. They're moving refugees to Texas. There hasn't been a lot of focus on people who are living in hotels and there are presumably 1.5 million people affected in Mississippi and Alabama. There is no one analyzing what the market impacts are going to be because we've never been in a situation like this before. |
This has been fairly consistent over time. Younger people are more likely to move greater distances. |
This was the first time we asked about second, third and even fourth homes. |
We think 2006 will be another record for second-home sales. |
We think for all of 2006, we will see a slowing of price growth in housing prices. |
We think that sales might ease a little bit in November, but they should stay within a fairly narrow range through the first quarter. |
We're going to be entering a period of relative balance between buyers and sellers. We're going from a sellers' market to a balanced market. |
We've never had a streak like this. We think we've come to an end for setting a record each year, but we're projecting this is a new plateau because of population growth and household formation. |