Bargains Are Harder To Find

Where have all the bargains gone? In an article from Realtor.org/realtormag, both Realtors and home buyers stated that those great bargains in houses don't exist anymore:

"Every open house I've been to has been a zoo," says first-time home buyer Sam Rivero, who has looked at 35 properties during the last three months. "If you follow what the media say, you'd think sellers are desperate to sell a house, but when you get there it's totally the opposite."

"The biggest problem," says Phyllis Harb, an associate with RE/Max Tri City in La Canada, Calif., "is that people are overreacting to housing statistics, thinking they can come in and make an offer 20 percent below price."

Since the first of the year, single family homes in Bloomington have actually sold for an average of 7% less than the asking price or at 93% of the asking price. This translates to an average of $14,000 off the asking price of a $200,000 home.

Source: Los Angeles Times, Chip Jacobs (05/03/2009) and the Bloomington Board of Realtors MLS