mctraill

House went on market in January here we are in March, not a single viewing, I have dropped the price twice still no takers...still waiting

Dogs 6 month wait isnt up yet she can travel end of March...still waiting

Movers not coming until we have an offer on the house so we are still waiting...

People keep asking me when are you going/coming home i just say...still waiting..

Its very boring this waiting...

Bevm

That must be really hard, McTraill.

Is that the way the housing market is there?

Bev

mctraill

My problem is there is no shortage of houses in Houston and round by me they are building all the time...

There are also a lot of foreclosed homes as well which they are selling off for $60,000 less than mine is on the market for...some homes have been on the market for 8 months....

dunroving

I often wonder what explains the difference between the US housing market (seemingly constant building of new properties, even during a recession when stacks of people are trying to sell existing homes) and the UK (very little new building going on).

I have heard it explained away by the greater availability of land in the US, and yes, certainly the acreage per capita is greater in the US, but you don't have to drive too far in the UK to find what looks like empty land ...

[OT, but I was teaching population density in undergrad statistics the other day, and the US has a population density of 32 people per sq km, Scotland is 66 per sq km, UK is about 230, England is almost 400, Wales is 140]

Englishmum

.....and in Singapore it is 6500 per sq km or 16,500 per sq mile! It is getting even higher due to a high amount of immigration and I've noticed it's certainly more crowded now than when I first left in 2000.

Derrygal

Actually there isn't much building of new homes going on here at all. The condo development I moved into (in 2005) is only half finished. There are still some empty units that have never been sold and now some re-sales going on the market. The builder stopped building in 2008 when the economy and housing market went down the tubes. I can only speak for here - don't know what the rest of the country is like.

dunroving

Yes, I forgot to include the "city on a small island" countries like HK, etc., that have densities in the 1,000's per sq km. Scary.

Bevm

A lot of it is green belt, and it's a good thing that it can't be built on.

It's crazy that they're building new homes in the US when so many are unsold and even cheap. Why would people buy them? Some people do have an obsession about having a new house, I suppose.

Bev

bandrui

I wouldn't worry McT. I always feel that most house purchases don't happen until Spring and Summer. I think statistics show this. I don't know the market there admittedly but I would personally think twice about dropping the price so quickly. Remember it only takes the person showing up for whom your property is perfect to make it all happen. A little bit of patience goes a long way. You might be repeating this to me when my time comes though . I'll keep my fingers crossed for you .

sallysimmons

I think it's terrible across the country - even here where house prices haven't fallen as badly. In the course of my work, I have come across many people whose work is somehow related to the construction industry and all are changing careers or long-term unemployed.

McTraill, if houses similar to yours are selling for $60K less, don't you have to drop your price to the same level? That's not a judgment by the way - I have no idea - I'm just wondering why anyone would buy a more expensive house with cheaper options available. Is it because foreclosed homes are undesirable?

Englishmum

I have an Aussie friend who is a self-employed contractor in Hoboken, NJ (just across the river from NYC). He says that many contractors have come up from Florida trying to find work (the housing stock is older in northern NJ and people often need repairs or want extensions etc.). He told me that he's having to lower his rates to compete.

Then again, I see many, many day labourers - guys who hope to be picked up in a van by contractors to do things such as house painting, building, gardening etc. - when I drive to the gym in the town next to mine. Many of them are from Ecuador or Costa Rica and just stand outside a couple of shops in large groups - I'm sure that almost all of them can't legally work (or even reside) in the US and I guess that they are paid far less than the prevailing rate for the job than if an American did it, and they're probably exploited to boot.

mctraill

LOL..your right of course I just need to sit back and enjoy the sunshine while I can...I will say today I have seen signs of building work starting to happen on the other side of our subdivision, they havent built any new houses here for about 2 months...other places close by have been building though..

I am told once Spring break is over with people start looking to move, lets hope so...

mctraill

McTraill, if houses similar to yours are selling for $60K less, don't you have to drop your price to the same level? That's not a judgment by the way - I have no idea - I'm just wondering why anyone would buy a more expensive house with cheaper options available. Is it because foreclosed homes are undesirable?[/QUOTE]

The houses priced far less than mine are foreclosed homes, which are being sold by the bank just to sell them and get them off their books and some of them need work doing on them, mine is on the market for far less than the market value, if I could afford to sell at a much less price then I would, we are already $30,000 under the market value..

Giantaxe

The market value of a house is what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller. If your house isn't selling (and is marketed properly) it's unlikely that it's "market value" is $30k more than your asking price. In fact, with the pressure from foreclosed homes priced $60k less, the market value of your house is likely less than your asking price. The fact that banks "just sell them to get them off their books" is kind of irrelevant.

Giantaxe

Land is cheap in places where a lot of the building is happening and likely a sunken cost. Labour and materials costs have dropped significantly so they can still turn a profit even by undercutting competition from resales. It's still a brutal environment for home sellers in many areas.