Chris Kelly, 2022 Broker Relations Liaison, National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), President & CEO, Ebby Halliday Companies, North Texas: From experience, I know that most veteran agents will take this normalizing market in stride—perhaps even see it as a bit of relief from two highly chaotic, even lucrative years. Today we want to know how you, as leaders, are approaching this very important task.
Mark Pessin, Chief Learning Officer, Realty ONE Group, Carlsbad, California: The first job for any leader is to be sure we have and share the most accurate information—good, local data that helps agents and customers understand and work with actual local trends instead of reacting to broadcast news and social media.
Matt Deuitch, Designated Broker, DPR Realty, Scottsdale, Arizona: I agree. Agents are focused on their clients and transactions, so I take a more macro viewpoint. I stay immersed in industry, economic, legal and legislative news that can best inform their business.
Christina Pappas, Vice President, The Keyes Company, Miami, Florida: I recently toured 50 of our offices in person, sometimes two or three a day, to make sure our agents are armed with the facts and ready to help consumers get off the fence. For one thing, we still have no more than a two or three months’ supply of inventory today, which means it’s still technically a seller’s market. For another, there’s a general view that rising interest rates always equal price reductions. But the data says otherwise. In the past six slowdowns, only one saw hefty price reductions. It’s important for people to know that.
Barbara Wolcott, Chairman/CEO, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Towne Realty, Virginia Beach, Virginia: What’s equally important is that the market isn’t so much slowing as stabilizing—especially now, as we head toward the holidays. There is no reason for sellers to panic. They need to know that what occurred in 2020 and ’21 is neither typical nor healthy—that what’s happening now is normal and no indication of a coming bubble or a recession. We had an unusual confluence of events a couple of years ago. That’s over now, and it may be a bitter pill to swallow, but it’s actually good for the economy. The truth is, we still have a robust market overall, with a shortage of inventory and a lot of qualified buyers looking for that available right-priced home.
CK: What gets lost in the headlines is that the buyer who qualified for a $400,000 loan a year ago and got priced out will now find a less competitive landscape. Less properties are selling for over list price, which means that even with today’s higher mortgage rates, buyers may not have to stretch their budgets as much as they think. This is good news, and we need to be getting the word out to those that disengaged out of frustration.
MP: It’s always a matter of supply and demand. The difference now is that in 2008, buyers who weren’t really qualified were approved for loans, which is why the market ultimately crashed. Now, buyers have to jump through hoops to qualify and often put more money down—and sellers are in a far better equity position. These are the facts agents need to share, and share repetitively with consumers.
MD: Also, buyers won’t be waiving seller disclosures or appraisals like they were. In fact, they can include clauses that benefit them—like longer escrows—then order the appraisal only after the inspection items have been resolved.
CP: A balanced market is a healthy market. That’s the overriding message, and education is key. We need our agents to access the local data, understand it and articulate it—on social media, with email blasts, in meetings with clients. This is the absolute right time for buyers. We simply wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t get that message across.
The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and Chris Kelly, NAR’s Broker Relations Liaison. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.
For more information, visit https://www.nar.realtor/.
