I just got back yesterday from meeting with The Leadership Council, a group of large independent brokers from around the country. This time we met at Chenowth & Cohen in Tulsa, where growth is high and unemployment is low. Tulsa turns out to be almost in the exact center of the country geographically, both north to south and east to west, so it is home to a lot of company distribution and service centers, as well as energy companies and others. It is just approaching the million mark in population. People are moving from all different parts of the US, and many that I met had come from Texas. Boy, does it seem different from New Haven in those regards!
Tulsa has about two and a half months of housing inventory. Prices are rising, and units are growing. Like us, they have problems with mortgages and closing times, and sales are not easy. However, it's really about jobs. If people have jobs, and employees are moving into the region to work, then it's obviously easier to sell your home and buy another one, because there is a steady supply of buyers being created. In addtion, the West has ranches and open land all around, making it much simpler and cheaper for builders to add new product.
The real estate business has some characteristics in common all over, but there are some differences. They have centralized showing, so agents make one call to arrange all the properties for a buyer to see. They also have lots of listings where contact is through the owner, which seems odd to us. States with title companies owned by real estate companies are more real estate agent driven than lawyer driven. Towns and cities are farther apart, and many agents I met worked an hour or more from home. There seemed to be more concentration--one agent I met with had 159 listings! Advertising has left newspapers in many places, and you don't see the big Sunday ad sections. Everything is done on line, or directly by real estate companies.
Other practices were similar to ours, including the work ethic of agents, the changes brought by technology, and the complications of lending and governmental regulations. It's always refreshing to see both the old and the new, and to step out of the regular daily grind and view it from a distance.
Showing posts with label Tulsa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tulsa. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
News from Around the Country
I just got back very late last night from Cincinnati, where The Leadership Council (a group of large independent real estate brokerage firms from around the country) met at Comey & Shepard's offices there. The trip itself was uneventful, except for the US Air flight from Philadelphia to Dayton (no, there's no more direct flight from New Haven to Cincinnati!), where the gate attendant announced that the plane had no working bathroom. Sounding just like someone's mother, she then proclaimed that, if you thought you'd have to go, you should go now, before getting on the plane! A new low in air service---and they're probably working on coin-operated toilets as we speak....
We always learn a lot at these meetings, and this one was no exception. On a beautiful fall Sunday, we sat in a windowless basement conference room all day, and listened to tales of woe from around the country. The brokers in this group were all hoping that the bottom has arrived; indeed, there are some signs that it has passed. Their average sale prices, however, were all down from a year ago, and most had unit declines of 10 to 20% from a year ago, and a two-year decline of more than that. Homes under $200,000 are selling everywhere, mostly to first-time homebuyers. Homes over $700,000 are not selling anywhere, to anyone.
In a twist on the common phrase, there is no broker left behind. All of us have had trouble getting transactions closed in this market. Financing is hard. Closings are delayed or cancelled. There doesn't seem to be any difference in big companies vs. small; all are affected. In fact, so-called traditional brokers are doing better than the discount or 100% companies in percentage of business. All parts of the country have had issues, although the places that didn't go up much (in our group, Tulsa and Des Moines) are much less impacted now. In fact, those companies in our group are chugging along. New construction and commercial real estate were low points for pretty much every firm.
We remained optimistic and, for the most part upbeat, helped by good food and plenty of wine. Next spring, when we meet in Iowa, we'll be hoping to break out the champagne. Until then, it's back to work!
We always learn a lot at these meetings, and this one was no exception. On a beautiful fall Sunday, we sat in a windowless basement conference room all day, and listened to tales of woe from around the country. The brokers in this group were all hoping that the bottom has arrived; indeed, there are some signs that it has passed. Their average sale prices, however, were all down from a year ago, and most had unit declines of 10 to 20% from a year ago, and a two-year decline of more than that. Homes under $200,000 are selling everywhere, mostly to first-time homebuyers. Homes over $700,000 are not selling anywhere, to anyone.
In a twist on the common phrase, there is no broker left behind. All of us have had trouble getting transactions closed in this market. Financing is hard. Closings are delayed or cancelled. There doesn't seem to be any difference in big companies vs. small; all are affected. In fact, so-called traditional brokers are doing better than the discount or 100% companies in percentage of business. All parts of the country have had issues, although the places that didn't go up much (in our group, Tulsa and Des Moines) are much less impacted now. In fact, those companies in our group are chugging along. New construction and commercial real estate were low points for pretty much every firm.
We remained optimistic and, for the most part upbeat, helped by good food and plenty of wine. Next spring, when we meet in Iowa, we'll be hoping to break out the champagne. Until then, it's back to work!
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