Annual Real Estate Conference

Fraida and Tony just returned last week from the annual Star Power real estate conference in Orlando which was attended by 1200 of the top 1% of realtors in the U. S. and Canada. Attending this conference for each of the past 10 years has enabled them to stay at the cutting edge of the real estate industry as they compare notes with some of the top performing realtors in North America. Many markets around the U. S. are adjusting from the highs achieved during the 2002 - 2005 period. The markets that had the greatest price gains are now having the greatest price reductions as the supply of homes for sale are well in excess of the current demand for homes in most markets (although not all, Charlotte NC to name just one). Short sales are becoming common in some markets as sellers and lenders work together to get homes sold and closed. Seller's are generally faced with the the reality that today they are in both a "beauty contest" and a "price war", that is, they have to have the best looking house with the best price among the competition in their price range.