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, presideng of “In fact, we endedf up with 7,881 sales for the which is the fewestysince 1995. So we’ve obviously had a significant pullback.” And that doesn’t take into considerationb thatthe county’s housing market is 27 percent larger than in 1995, he “I think we’re probably nearinyg the bottom, but we’re not seeing an uptur yet,” Davidson said. Inventory is up in Johnsom County, as well as metrowide, so it takes twice as long on averagse to get a contract than it did twoyears ago, said Kath Koehler, CEO of in Leawood.
There was four to six months of inventory of housex priced lessthan $300,000 two years ago, she Now, there is 10 month s worth of inventory for that price range. For the $500,00o to $750,000 range, there was six to nine months of inventorg twoyears ago. Now, there is 32 months. For homese priced more than $1.25 million, there was 12 months of inventorg twoyears ago, and now there is 65 months. “Thr homes that are selling quickly are updated homes pricedunder $250,000,” Koehler said. “People are snappingb them up.
” Lower interest rates are drawing some buyers into the but many people think it has reache drock bottom, and they want to jump in befor it gets crazy again, said Chris Collins, presidenf of the . Since earl y January, Koehler has seen a flurry of In December, her company had only four showings one weekendc and five the next. In her team had 104 showings one January weekend and 97the next. January has seen a stirring of activity in the newconstructio market, as well. The interest is out said Matt Derrick, director of communications forthe . The challenge is for consumersd to regaintheir confidence. The Johnsom County Consumer Confidence Index wasa record-loa 69.
6 in January, down from 70 in December and 114.4 in Januar 2008, according to CERI. Derrick said that lower interestrates haven’t translated into sales yet but that builderes have seen an uptick in traffif since the beginning of the The upper-bracket/custom market has been least affected by the housint slump, Derrick said. The market for new housez rangingfrom $600,000 and up is steady. The challengee is the lower and middle part ofthe “Being able to sell $250,009 to $500,000 new homeas is dependent on the people who live in $200,000 (houses) sellinbg their homes so they can move up to that type of Derrick said.
“They are concernedd about jobs and being able to get into therighty mortgage.” Johnson County represents 25 percent of the total As of Dec. 31, thered were 3,874 new and resale homesz on the market inJohnson County, compared with 15,771 units in the nine-county metro area, Collins said. The dynamicsa are changing, however. Johnson County has fallem from being the leading location for new home construction to middls ofthe pack, Derrick said. In 42 percent of all new homees built in the metro area were inJohnson County. Last that fell to 29 percent.
“For the firs t time since we started tracking these numbersa in themid ’70s, more homes were built northh of the river than in Johnso n County last year,” Derrick said. He citedd price as the biggestreason — the bulk of Johnsonn County’s new housing is in the $250,000 to $600,000p range, and that is not a price poinyt most families can afford. Today more than ever, individual circumstances affect how quickly a particularhouse sells, Collins said. The good news is that therde is more activity and that inventories are coming but houses still need to bepricee right. “Look at your market, get to know it, and act Collins said.
“This markeft has been a learningb experience for me and has made me abettefr agent,” Koehler said. “Good often comes out of