Is it a Game of Chicken or a Mexican Standoff?
November 5, 2006
Post Tags: A-buyers-market , game-of-chicken , mexican-standoff , tucson-home-sellers
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Right now in Tucson our Real Estate Market is A Buyer’s Market. It has been A Buyer’s Market for about 6 months. The public hears over and over it is a buyer’s market. The high inventories of homes on the market all over this country indicate it is a buyer’s market. I expect to see it written in the sky one of these days ”IT’S A BUYERS MARKET.”
So why aren’t we selling more homes in Tucson. Where are the Buyers? We are gradually seeing increased traffic on our web site, and at open houses, but not as much as we would expect with a buyer’s market.
Who doesn’t know it is a buyer’s market. It appears the Seller’s don’t know it. At least they aren’t willing to admit it. So what do we have. A Game of Chicken or a Mexican Standoff.
The phrase game of chicken is used as a metaphor for a situation where two parties engage in a showdown where they have nothing to gain, and only pride stops them from backing down.
A Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse, a confrontation that neither side can win. In popular culture, the Mexican standoff is usually portrayed as two or more opponents with guns drawn and ready, creating a very tense situation. Exacerbating the tension is that neither side wants to put down its weapons for fear that its opponents will shoot them. This situation forces the participants to resolve the situation either by diplomacy, surrender, or a pre-emptive strike.
Here is a great post from BlogArizona on this very topic. It is written about the Phoenix market on October 24, 2006. I think it applies to the Tucson Market as well.
Cooling Market or Spoiled Sellers
We think we have high inventories in Tucson with 9200+ homes on the market. Can you imagine what it is like with 47,000+ homes and still the seller’s don’t seem to understand it is a Buyer’s Market.
I want to revisit three posts from October that are still very applicable to our November Market.
- Tucson Housing Market, It Isn’t Valentines Day Anymore!
- Tucson Real Estate Market | Selling in a Buyer’s Market (a tip)
- Tucson Home Sellers Price is Right or Jeopardy
We have to keep trying to get the message out to Seller’s. Our Market is Good, but it won’t be like the last couple of years again for a very long time.
It is time to stop looking back and hoping for a return of the good old days.
It is time to look ahead and think about the future.
I’ll be writing tomorrow on:
Future Consideration When Selling Your Tucson Home
November 6th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Here in Phoenix the buyers are still around. Some are kicking tires and waiting for the real estate world to come to an end while others are being a bit more realistic about how far their dollar can go.
Like sellers overpricing their homes, there is a constant issue with unmotivated buyers who are more interested in waiting for prices that will never come.
November 6th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
Jonathan,
I think a lot of home buyers are taking the same attitude I do with buying gas. When I see prices dropping a few cents every couple of days I go till I’m running on fumes before filling up figureing the longer I wait the better price I’ll get, until I see the price going up a couple of cent, then I get to the station as quick as I can to top of the tank before it goes up again.