By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
No one knows for sure when residential real estate will officially “recover,” but a turnaround may not be far off. When it comes, practitioners and brokers who spent the downturn fundamentally improving their business will be in the best position to take advantage of the upswing, a panel of real estate executives said at the Real Estate Services Forum on Saturday at the 2010 REALTORS® Conference & Expo.
“We’re in the seventh inning of a full-blown housing correction,” said Ron Peltier, chair and CEO of HomeServices of America. “I think what’s happening is that all of the nonsense is getting pushed out of the market. If we understand that, we can be better operators.”
At this point, the industry is still in “survival mode,” but there are signs of improvement. For example, as Realogy President and CEO Alex Perriello pointed out, there has been a significant increase this year in home sales over $500,000 and in all-cash transactions. “We’re seeing the value buyer getting back into the market; these are people who are well-off financially and very thoughtful. What that tells me is that the smart money is calling bottom,” he said. Continue reading »
By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
In her president’s report during the NAR Board of Directors Meeting in Washington, D.C., today, Vicki Cox Golder said REALTOR® University would help “raise the bar” of the profession through an initiative to create an accredited degree-granting university program.
Richard Rosenthal, a Venice, Calif., broker and NAR Liaison for Special Projects, built on this point in a report on the program. He said a blue-ribbon panel started work this year on the initiative, which will result in degrees in majors that include real estate sales and marketing, real estate brokerage, and appraisal.
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