Soft 2008 residential real estate market costs brokerages millions in lost sales - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The soft residential real estate market, brokeres say, is the result of dwindlinv consumer confidence and tighter credit requirements from mortgagw lenders that made it more difficult for some buyersz to obtainfinancing — something that hasn’t changed. Home appraisersx also have been conservative. “Th e pendulum always swings one waytoo far. I thinik that’s probably what we’ll see over the next few saysWayne Short, owner of . But at leastg one local company saw its 2008numbersd increase. increased its residential salesvolumer 2.9 percent, from $109 milliob to $112.
3 million, a boosf the company’s CEO Tim Holt says was the resulrt of increased production, especially in the high-en market. “Our agents were working pretty Holt says. “We had better production than theyear Overall, brokerages still are experiencing down numbers through the first half of 2009. However, some say the marker is showing signsof recovery. Tax credits for first-timed home buyers, lower prices and attractivse mortgage rates are helping drive pending salesd of existinghomes — contracts signed, but not closed. In pending sales climbed 6.7 percent, according to the , postingh its fourth increase nationally in the lastfive months.
And May figured look to be up, too. “We certainly hope it is an indicatioh that the market is heading in therigh direction,” says Willie president of . brokerages are trying to offset losses insales • retained its hold on the top marketr share, but lost 14.8 percent, or $79.89 million in total residential sales. The company’s 2008 figuresw totaled $453.4 million, accordingt to WBJ data. “The bottom line is, througyh April, the board is down about 27 percent,” says Nestor Weigand, the company’s chief executive. However, the company’s markeyt share has increased 3.5 percent, which Weigand “is huge in the real estat e market.
” • Prudential rankse No. 2 on the WBJ list with $397.2 milliomn in 2008 residential sales, down 9.1 percenty from the year “In general, the economyg certainly has an effecyon (the housing market),” Kihle As aircraft plants announced layoffs people became increasinglh worried about losing theifr jobs and weren’t interested in buying a new home, Kihl says. • Sales volume at dropped 11.1 percent.
Fran Stucky, Coldwell’s CEO, says the downturn the rest of the countryy started experiencing months earlier finally made its way tothe