Jim’s Take on the Market
2024 Predictions
We're in the forecasting time of year! The chart above is from Realtor.com. We are used to the ivory-tower types who don't bother to get out of their office or even pick up a phone. They just shine up their previous guess with some current events, like lower mortgage...
NSDCC November Sales, Prelim
The market is so much different now than it used to be that we should jettison all previous assumptions (paraphrased from a Rob Dawg comment years ago). In the old days, prices would be coming down by now because the demand would have been severely impacted by higher...
An Inventory Surge?
While a surge in inventory next year would help to change the market dynamics, there isn't any hard evidence of it happening yet: How many would be considered a surge? If the number of new listings rose 10% or even 20%, would anyone notice? Probably not. Using these...
San Diego Case-Shiller Index, September
Ok, ok - yesterday I said that we're at the highest pricing ever, but the San Diego non-seasonally-adjusted Case-Shiller Index isn't quite there yet. But it feels like record pricing around the north county coastal region, doesn't it? The index dropped eight months in...
Turkey Talking Points
What a great day! Delivering pies and talking real estate - what a privilege! Talking points you might hear over Thanksgiving dinner. - It's too unaffordable. Prices have to adjust. There will be the occasional seller who gets caught in a pinch and has to sell that...
Realtor Commissions, 2024 Part 3
Zillow CEO Rich Barton weighed in on the bombshell cases in both an investor call and a shareholder letter. Barton’s key comment came early in the call when he said “We also believe complete disruption to the existence of buyer’s agents is improbable for a few...
Buyer Listing
The first week after the realtor-lawsuit verdict went as expected - chaos, doom, and no sexy alternatives. It will take years to appeal, but it won't matter how it turns out. Buyers are going to be paying their agents. If sellers aren't obligated to pay any commission...
Are Realtor Commissions Negotiable?
Are realtor commissions negotiable? Sure....how high do you want to go? 😆 Commissions aren't all the same, just like agents aren't all the same. Different agents charge different rates because they do different things for the consumer. Commissions/fees range from...
NAR Lawsuit – The Aftermath, Part 2
Now what? The National Association of Realtors clearly underestimated the chances of losing this case - and the others to come. They must have thought that touting their 100-year old Code of Ethics was all that was needed to impress people, and instead they found out...
