Most Realtors I’m in contact with on a regular basis here in Baltimore are seeing some positive signs as we head into autumn. August has been the busiest month this year, perhaps in the last several years. The phone is ringing, buyers are beginning to come back to the marketplace, and a few are even writing contracts. August, even in good years, can be slow because of family vacations and of the heat — who wants to see houses when its 95 degrees with 80% humidity in Baltimore? But this year, that didn’t stop people.
And in mid-August, the large new-homebuilder — Toll Brothers, Inc. — publicly released statistics that were some of the most hopeful we’ve seen in two years. Their quarterly guidance talked about a declining rate of cancellations, and signs of “growing pent-up demand” from people who have delayed buying while the market was crashing and financial institutions were imploding. (Wall Street Journal, August 14)
We’re not out of the woods yet, as today’s continued bad news from Freddie and Fannie clearly remind us, but its nice to see both local and national signs that we *may* finally be bottoming out.
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