Saturday, July 28, 2007

Pity Party

“Century 21 Real Estate’s CEO Thomas Kunz may have unintentionally hit the nail on the head when he declared that a ‘pity party’ is gripping the housing industry right now.”

“As this punishing, steep decline has taken hold, everyone from home builder CEOs to real-estate agents to mortgage lenders can’t get over the turn of events. At an auction of townhouses near Fort Myers, Fla., last month, homeowners who had bought into a development built by Levitt and Sons for $300,000 watched as neighboring properties sold for $145,000.”

“‘They promised us that they were not going to go below the market value,’ said one of the homeowners, in a newscast . ‘This is not fair,’ said another.”

“Century 21’s Kunz is fed up with that feel-bad-for-me camp. He hears that kind of talk every day, from buyers, sellers, agents, managers, brokers and more who are angry and confused by how things have turned out.”

“What I am seeing out there is a pity party for everyone involved in real-estate transactions,’ Kunz said.”

“In the end, though, he and everyone else in housing industry must fess up that they are reaping what they sowed. That’s little solace for home owners under water or facing foreclosures. But that’s the way markets work.”

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