Hawaii Real Estate starts Here!

Credit Suisse reported their latest survey of real estate agents on activity for the month of October 2009 for the nation.  Overall October traffic was slower than September.  However, according the Credit Suisse analysts , that does not tell the whole story. The beginning of October was actually busier than the month of September. This is in large part due to the ending of the home buyer tax credit on November 30, 2009.  Now with the extension of the tax credit and expansion of the tax credit it will be interesting to see if the traffic picks up again.  Credit Suisse sees that the first time home buyers have been pulled forward from future purchases and therefore we are likely to see a lull in activity at the end of 2009 and early 2010.  This of course remains to be seen.

Traffic seemed to slow in Minneapolis and Seattle, but was strongest in Las Vegas, Orlando, Fort Meyers, LA, and Washington D.C. where homes are most affordable and renters are fleeing to low cost of buying.

Analysts at Credit Suisse are calling for an improvement in existing home sales numbers for September.  They are calling for a 5% increase in home sales, but that is less than the analysts consensus of  a 5.9% increase.  Their main reason for coming in below the other analysts has to do with many sales encountering troubles from low appraisals which has made it challenging to obtain mortgages.  They do see supply dropping to 7.7 months from August levels of 8.2 months.  But, this could be skewed because unknown numbers of foreclosures have not been put on the market.  The National Association of Realtors will release their figures on Friday.