We are all thrilled that real estate sales volume has increased, but is it because the investors have returned to the marketplace? When the bubble burst, real estate investors in parts of the country were hit hard. They fled the market, some with moderate losses, some losing the shirt off their back.
But as the banks unload their foreclosures and deals start floating around, the investors have returned. One out of five homes sold last year were to investors. That is a significant amount of properties changing hands and is what is setting the floor right now of the housing market. The investors are looking for the deals and keeping prices from dropping further by taking inventory off the market.
So thank you real estate investors for coming back.
They bought one out of every five homes last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. And many are snapping up deeply discounted foreclosed homes and other distressed properties in places like Las Vegas and Phoenix. San Jose Mercury News.
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I think that a new form of smarter investor has emerged that did not exist before. There are many investors out there now that were smarter with their money during the real estate boom and put all of their money into assets that did not lose out. Now that they have the money and the market is in their favor, they are investing in homes and buying them outright rather than "investing" in a giant mortgage.
It doesn't matter whether you are investing nationally, locally, high end or low. It's worsened and recovery has been meager at best. All you have to do is take a looks at housing indeces like the Sell My Home national average selling price proved lower but have somewat leveled. Look closer to home in Judkins Park, or the Zillow Seattle home value index. Q1 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors, Seattle median home sale price was $302,600, down from $315,200 in 2009, for example.