Home sellers see interest, wait for buying comeback - Kansas City Business Journal:

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“Obviously, 2008 was a slow year,” said Doug Davidson, president of “Ih fact, we ended up with 7,881 sales for the year, whicgh is the fewest since 1995. So we’ve obviouslu had a significant pullback.” And that doesn’g take into consideration thatthe county’s housingb market is 27 percent larger than in 1995, he “I think we’re probably nearing the but we’re not seeing an uptur n yet,” Davidson said. Inventoryh is up in Johnson County, as well as so it takes twice as long on average to get a contracg than it did twoyears ago, said Kathu Koehler, CEO of in Leawood.
There was four to six monthsz of inventory of houses priced lessthan $300,0000 two years ago, she said. Now, there is 10 monthsw worth of inventory for thatpricw range. For the $500,000 to $750,000 range, there was six to nine months of inventorgy twoyears ago. Now, there is 32 For homes priced morethan $1.25 there was 12 months of inventory two years ago, and now therd is 65 months. “Thed homes that are selling quickly are updated homes pricedunder $250,000,” Koehler “People are snapping them up.
” Lower interest ratexs are drawing some buyers into the but many people think it has reacher rock bottom, and they want to jump in befores it gets crazy again, said Chris Collins, presideny of the . Since early January, Koehler has seen a flurry of activity. In her company had only four showings one weekendr and fivethe next. In contrast, her team had 104 showingss one January weekend and 97the next. January has seen a stirrin g of activity in the new construction as well. The interest is out there, said Matt director of communications forthe . The challenge is for consumer to regaintheir confidence. The Johnson Countyh Consumer Confidence Index wasa record-los 69.
6 in January, down from 70 in December and 114.4 in Januar y 2008, according to CERI. Derrick said that lower interestratesw haven’t translated into sales yet but that builderx have seen an upticok in traffic since the beginning of the The upper-bracket/custom market has been least affectede by the housing slump, Derrick said. The market for new housesz rangingfrom $600,000 and up is steady. The challengre is the lower and middle part ofthe “Being able to sell $250,000 to $500,000 new homesd is dependent on the people who live in $200,000 selling their homes so they can move up to that type of Derrick said.
“They are concerned about jobs and beiny able to get into therightf mortgage.” Johnson County represents 25 percent of the total market. As of Dec. 31, there were 3,874 new and resal e homes on the market inJohnson County, comparedf with 15,771 units in the nine-countuy metro area, Collins The dynamics are however. Johnson County has fallenh from being the leading location for new home constructio to middle ofthe pack, Derrick In 2001, 42 percenr of all new homes built in the metro area were in Johnson County.
Last year, that fell to 29 “For the first time since we started trackinb these numbers in themid ’70s, more homes were built nortgh of the river than in Johnson Countyg last year,” Derrick said. He cited prics as the biggest reason — the bulk of Johnsoj County’s new housing is in the $250,000 to $600,00p range, and that is not a price point most familiesdcan afford. Today more than ever, individual circumstancese affect how quickly a particularhousee sells, Collins said. The good news is that therwe is more activity and that inventories are coming but houses still need to beprices right. “Look at your market, get to know it, and act Collins said.
“This markeft has been a learning experience for me and has made me abetted agent,” Koehler said. “Good often comes out of