Forecast: Real Estate Recovery Won't Arrive Till 2013 or Beyond

'Wost case scenario': 12-year supply of distressed properties

The real estate market will see improvement in the remainder of this year and in 2012, but is unlikely to recover until 2013 or beyond, said speakers at a recent Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC).

"We're in a 'broken W' economy. A couple of quarters up, then down," said Ken Rosen, chair of UC Berkeley's Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics. He was one of three panelists in a session titled "Translating the Macro Economic Forecast to Real Local Market Knowledge."

"The housing market may have bottomed, but chances of a housing recovery this year are pretty slim," said Elliott Pollack, CEO of Elliott D. Pollack & Co., an economic and real estate consulting firm.

Overall, "the recovery is happening, it's just not happening as fast as we'd like," Rosen said. “Tight credit restrictions are one of the biggest factors constraining that recovery. Thirty to 40 percent of the people who want to buy a house don't qualify. Credit should be loosest at the bottom of a cycle," he added.


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A Career in Real Estate

A career in real estate is perfect for you if you are an entrepreneur who likes people, is enthusiastic and energetic!  The benefits of being a real estate are numerous:

• Be your own boss. Most real estate agents are independent contractors. They set their own work schedules, develop their client base, decide on their marketing methods and grow their business as their own.
• Your business growth is all up to you. There are no limits for growth of your real estate business. Couple a good attitude with a superior work ethic and you can realize fantastic rewards. You'll need to incorporate good business skills and develop effective marketing. It's all in your hands.
• Excellent client service will yield future rewards. It's a huge benefit of this business to be able to reap future business from the good will of past customers (clients). So pay as much attention to the nuts and bolts of the job and to customer service as you do to marketing. You'll see great results later.
• Your time is yours, so take that vacation! Develop relationships with other agents in your office. Once you find someone with a similar style and work ethic, you can work with each other to set up off time and know that your clients will be handled the way that you want. You're in charge of your business and your time off.
• Your business can be as large as you like. The real estate business offers huge potential for expansion from your "one person show" beginnings. As an agent, your income is controlled in large part by the time you invest.

For more information, go to A Career in Real Estate

Buying a Foreclosure or Short Sale Property

Foreclosed and foreclosing properties dominate many of today’s U.S. real estate markets—more than four years after the sharpest observers saw the market shift coming, and more than two years after the reality hit home for millions of American home owners.

First-time home buyers make up almost half of all buyers of bank-owned foreclosures and soon-to-be foreclosed short sale properties. They’re followed closely by investors seeking rental properties, and a third important group—homeowners who find they can move up to a bigger or better home they previously could not afford.

For more information, go to Buying a Foreclosure or Short Sale Property