Banks Will Continue to Sell REOs During the Holidays

The home sales cycle usually starts its year end drop in late August. The uptick usually begins in late January. Every community has unique characteristics and dynamics that affect its real estate market. Real Estate is ALWAYS Local

You can see this very clearly in the weekly graphs we post from MLS data. Our Market Detail Reports are also updated weekly and break data down by zip code and price point, so you get a more in-depth understanding of local markets.

During the Holiday season we usually see many homeowners pulling their house off the market for 30 days or so. They don't want the inconvenience of property showings and if their home has seen traffic stagnate, they may want to bring it back on the market when things pick up as a "new" listing.

Serious buyers remain in the market through the Holidays. Lookers, dreamers and shoppers often check out for the Holidays.

Who won't be checking out for the Holidays? Banks & Investors

Regardless of moratoriums, banks have a lot of foreclosed properties on the books and they are going to continue to sell as many of them as they can before year's end to get them off the books.

Investors are going to continue to gobble up the best deals they can find. When the best deals are gone, we're going to see the rest of the deals languish until individuals that want fixer-uppers pick them up or until the banks decide to lower the prices even more.

Items to Note & Watch Over the Holidays

• Commercial Real Estate – the next big hit
• LandAmerica & 1031 Exchange Legislation
• The New Presidency

These three items will each influence the 2009 real estate market.