Metairie Real Estate Observers Greeted with Multiple Surges!

If you are a Metairie real estate observer, last week was the time of month when you typically look for the major data releases which detail how residential sales and prices performed in the previous month. Metairie observers weren’t disappointed: last Tuesday, the key National Association of Realtors^® report came in right on schedule, with national media interpretations appearing close on its heels.

The NAR decreed that September’s existing-home sales numbers, which showed a 4.7% increase from the month before, indicated a resumption of the momentum that had momentarily faltered. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5,550,000 completed transactions was hailed as a strong rebound, marking the twelfth consecutive month of year-over-year increases.

          Realty Today agreed that the “more than expected” sales pace “suggests that the housing market continues to show strength compared to the rest of the economy.” In fact, the increase did contradict expectations from some observers. Their school of thought had been based on the common sense conclusion that if residential real estate price rises continue to outpace wage growth—as it has—the pace of sales would certainly slow. That prediction ran head-on into these latest figures. So much for common sense.

The financial press, which views real estate news from their own perspective had a slightly different take—one that was equally positive. “Good news abounds,” wrote CNN Money. “After years of flunking, the American housing market finally merits a B+ grade.” The financial publication’s ebullience was based on data which indicated that building activity was picking up “at the fastest pace since the recession.” That meant that the real estate sector had turned an important corner, with “the housing market…finally starts to be a real boost to the U.S. economy—and stock market—instead of a drag.”

             The Wall Street Journal gave Metairie real estate watchers an even more upbeat takeaway—going so far as to apply the rarely-invoked ‘surge’ word…twice! “U.S. Existing Home Sales Surge in September,” greeted WSJ readers on Wednesday. It was “a big increase” that put the real estate “market back on track for its strongest year since 2007.” Elsewhere, over the picture of a North Dakota roofer hard at work, another headline blared, “Home Construction Rebounds amid Surge in Multifamily Units.” With all that ‘surging’ going on everywhere, Metairie readers might have begun to worry about keeping their balance…

But they needn’t have worried—economic writers wouldn’t be performing as expected if they didn’t include at least some hand-wringing. The Journal didn’t disappoint on that score, either. They found one economist, Richard Moody, who complied. “I have this list of things that worry me about how we can sustain this,” he fretted.

If you are a current or prospective Metairie homeowner, national real estate performance is of more than passing interest. I’m here to help you transform your own personal Metairie real estate projections into real performance!

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Keller Williams Realty New Orleans

504 975 1033

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New Reports Help Guide Metairie Real Estate Market Decisions!

At the beginning of any month, Metairie onlookers can find batches of fresh reports about national real estate market activity. Take October, for instance. We’ve just learned a bunch about what happened across the country. September’s numbers won’t be collected and analyzed for a while, but the fresh real estate market data for August is out, as well as July revisions. Since earlier findings are always being tinkered with as estimates are replaced with hard results, we also get improved readings from the earlier month.

This latest batch of real estate market news was upbeat, downbeat, and, uh…sideways. Thursday was the first day in October, which was when CNN Money came out with some good old-fashioned cheerleading. “Americans went shopping for homes in August,” they headlined. The reason cited was for new home sales: they notched the highest volume since early in 2008: 552,000. It was a nice way to get the month’s data reports started.

Home prices, on the other hand, were not yet available for the August timeframe—but July’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index had pointed upward. It showed a 4.7% rise in prices paid for homes from a year earlier. This made for “moderate, but still above average, price appreciation,” according to Realtor.com’s chief economist. The prices were seen to have edged up just 0.7% from June, which was “barely higher” yet “much higher than last year.” If that summary had been illustrated, it would have merited both a frowny face and a smiley face.

There were other preliminary soundings about what the August price information was likely to be, and they were just as equivocal.

The National Association of Realtors^® tracks pending home sales data (homes under contract but not yet closed), and by that measure, there was a slight retreat from July’s level.  Yet although the preliminary number showed a 1.4% drop, which was still more than 6% higher than August 2014’s had been. Which was more compelling? Altogether, the news for sellers was deemed to be stronger. “Demand continues to outpace supply,” according to the NAR. “Shed no tears for sellers.”

If that sentiment is shared by Metairie homeowners, it might nudge some into listing their home now rather than waiting for the next truly robust real estate market—traditionally not expected until next spring. Although fall and winter usually find fewer buyers on the prowl for new digs, those who do surface are generally regarded as serious shoppers. And since the number of Metairie listings usually declines as the holidays approach, there’s a good argument to be made that less competition tilts in favor of sellers.

We have to wait until next month to get a read on how September activity fared; but for anyone who sees the advantages this October’s Metairie real estate market offers, I share your opinion! It’s definitely worth giving me a call.

 Would you consider selling YOUR home? Name your price!

The culture of our city has so much to offer... Love our city, New Orleans.

Questions about buying or selling a home?
Call Terez B. Harris 
504.297.2619

View Homes For Sale in Metairie
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Terez B. Harris
Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Group

(504)297-2619

www.TerezHarris.com
TerezHarris@kw.com

See what your neighbor's home sold for...

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Terez B. Harris   Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Group   504-297-2619   www.TerezHarris.com
Keller Williams Realty New Orleans 8601 Leake Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 504-862-0100

Each office independently owned and operated. All brokers and agents licensed in the state of Louisiana.

Unraveling Some Metairie Real Estate Jargon

 The Metairie real estate listings consist of the lineup of Metairie homes that are currently “on the market.” They’re for sale. Offered to buyers. Available for purchase. “On the market” is a straightforward real estate term; end of discussion.

So, you’d think that “off the market” should be equally unequivocal, and it would be, if it weren’t for “off-market,” with which it’s easily confused. And then there’s the fact that what actually happens after a formerly listed property goes off the market can result in a several different outcomes.

Sounds like a dose of contradictory Metairie real estate jargon—but it can be sorted out with a little determined effort. Here goes:

In real estate, off the market denotes a property that was listed in the past but currently pulled from the market. It no longer appears in the updated Metairie real estate listings, either because the owner has decided not to sell, or because the property is now in the process of being purchased (so more buyers don’t need to be recruited). When phrases like ‘under contract’ appear in a listing, it has the effect of being off the market at the moment, though interested buyers might keep an eye on it in case the sale doesn’t go through. An owner might withdraw a home if they now believe the market is not active enough to warrant more effort at this time, or because some event has caused them to decide to keep the house. 

Off the market, in today’s web-centric real estate reality is not quite as cut-and-dried as in former eras. Because the Internet never seems to forget anything, an off-the-market property may still pop up onscreen when buyers search for new Metairie homes for sale (particularly when some of the national sites don’t promptly remove outdated listings). Your Metairie Realtor^® can keep you up-to-date on the current status of any local property.

On the other hand, Off-market is sometimes used as a synonym for “off the market,” but can be used by some national websites for upcoming properties that are being marketed, but have not yet been listed. More often, off-market is used to denote a property that is for sale but will not be advertised publicly. Since such a property isn’t entered into the Metairie listings at all, most potential buyers will be unaware that it’s available. You might think this is a nutty way to try to sell a home, but there can be good reasons. Celebrity owners may be in a constant battle to stay out of the public limelight, and therefore resort to an arrangement (formal or informal) with a broker to discreetly market their home. Later news will say something like, “Janet Showbiz sold her 18 bedroom Bel-Air estate off-market for $11 million.” Some extremely high-end real estate offerings are offered quietly to other brokers. This is sometimes called a ‘pocket listing.’ When successful, it results in an off market sale.

You don’t have to be a celebrity to want to discreetly search for—or sell—an area home. If you are beginning to think over your area real estate options, whenever you call me for a no-obligation consultation, it will always be treated with complete confidentiality.

 

Would you consider selling YOUR home? Name your price!

The culture of our city has so much to offer... Love our city, New Orleans.

Questions about buying or selling a home?
Call Terez B. Harris 
504.297.2619

View Homes For Sale in Metairie
View Homes For Sale in New Orleans

Terez B. Harris
Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Group

(504)297-2619

www.TerezHarris.com
TerezHarris@kw.com

See what your neighbor's home sold for...

See What Your New Orleans Home is Worth!

See What Your Metairie Home is Worth!

Metairie For Sale By Owner? 

 New Orleans For Sale By Owner?

      

Terez B. Harris   Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Group   504-297-2619   www.TerezHarris.com
Keller Williams Realty New Orleans 8601 Leake Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 504-862-0100

Each office independently owned and operated. All brokers and agents licensed in the state of Louisiana.

Tough Sell: Think about Selling Your Metairie Home…to Yourself!

 

If you are at all typical, you probably won’t put even minimal thought into planning for selling your Metairie home until there’s a good reason to do so. One of the best parts of being a homeowner is the comfort you feel from having a stable home base. For a lot of us, thinking about selling your home (and then finding another; then moving) produces the opposite reaction. If we don’t have to start planning for migrating the whole household, we’d just rather not, thank you very much.

 In truth, doing this theoretically-only kind of thinking won’t be so disquieting. Since an actual sale and move is nowhere on the horizon, thinking about how you would prepare isn’t nearly as stressful as the real thing. And there are a couple of practical reasons why it can be worthwhile:

REASON 1: When it comes to actually selling your home in Metairie, you will almost certainly find some minor (and even major) features that must be changed to make the place more appealing to prospective buyers. It might be upgrading or expanding a backyard deck; it might be turning a shopworn kitchen island into a butcher block showpiece.

Some of those upgrades might involve a level of expense that we’d postpone until it was absolutely necessary. Yet as a business proposition when you’re selling your home, such improvements may be just what’s needed to make your place an irresistible buy.

So the first good reason to plan for selling when you have no intention of selling is that, instead of passing on a more livable place to the next owner, you get to benefit from living in the much more livable place yourself! This is really the best reason. It’s amazing how often I hear sellers say, “(big sigh) I wish I’d done that years ago. Why didn’t I do that years ago?”  

REASON 2: When you’re not planning to sell your Metairie home anytime soon (or perhaps anytime at all), you have an advantage that won’t be available when selling is imminent. That’s the ability to think about how the place will look and feel five or ten or twenty years down the line—and doing something to make it the best it can be. Most often, this involves landscaping decisions that can be made now for a next to nothing—and yield big dividends later on. Saplings that are inexpensive to plant this year can grow to provide shade and peaceful beauty a decade hence. Likewise, a problem tree that’s perfect right now (but whose roots will one day undermine your front walkway) might be mitigated by a young replacement nearby. When the offending tree has to be removed, the area won’t left barren.

Thinking about the selling of your Metairie home long before you have any serious plans to do so is a little like selling your home to yourself. You’re a discriminating prospect, after all. If a few improvements will make the place a richer environment for all the years you and your family will be living there, it’s certainly worth thinking about—and acting on—before the time comes to move on.

P.S. And just in case the time for selling your home arrive sooner rather than later, I’d be delighted if you will consider giving me a call!

Questions about buying or selling a home?
Call Terez B. Harris 
504.297.2619






View Homes For Sale in Metairie
View Homes For Sale in New Orleans

Terez B. Harris
Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Group

(504)297-2619

www.TerezHarris.com
TerezHarris@kw.com


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See what your neighbor's home sold for...

See What Your New Orleans Home is Worth!

See What Your Metairie Home is Worth!

Metairie For Sale By Owner? 
 New Orleans For Sale By Owner?

      

Terez B. Harris   Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Group   504-297-2619   www.TerezHarris.com
Keller Williams Realty New Orleans 8601 Leake Ave. New Orleans, LA 70118 504-862-0100

Each office independently owned and operated. All brokers and agents licensed in the state of Louisiana.