The State of Real Estate

By Adam Groff

May 19, 2020

undefined mins

Although the real estate world is still on the slow road to recovery after the bubble burst, the housing market is still experiencing fluctuations.

The question is, which states have the strongest and weakest sales and how are real estate agents doing as a result?

Here is a brief look at today's real estate market and how it affects you and those around you:

Real Estate Sales

When it comes to real estate sales in the United States, some regions are simply performing better than others.

In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, the South is leading the real estate race with more than 2 million existing-home sales in late 2014 alone.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Northeast is falling behind in sales with only 680,000 homes sold in late 2014.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that some of the top performers for real estate sales are Florida, California, and Texas with yearly sales exceeding 350,000 homes per state.

Real Estate Agents by State

The real estate profession has changed a lot over the years and, with the fluctuations in home sales, some agents are finding it harder to stay afloat. Based on the statistics above, some agents are performing better than others based on the sales trends in their region.

With that said, due to the unpredictable economy, many agents across the country are using more aggressive tactics to make sales.

Related: Betting on Housing Recovery

This includes networking on social sites, making cold calls, and doing more legwork to make a sale. The agents who survive not only chase leads, but follow through with customers until contracts are signed.

Finding the Best Real Estate Deals

If you're in the market for a new home, but you don't want to pay market value for the property, there are ways to save money during the real estate process.

Whether you are trying to find the best home or auto loan or you're ready to pay cash for a fixer upper, you should contact as many real estate agents as possible.

By working with multiple agents from various real estate agencies, you'll have access to more properties. This raises the chances of finding a better deal. In addition, there are wholesalers in the real estate market who specialize in wholesale properties, so contact them too.

Finally, search for sale by owner homes.

Going the For Sale by Owner route not only gives you more room to negotiate, it also saves you money by taking agent fees out of the purchasing process.

Local Businesses and Home Sales

Home sales don't just affect the real estate world, but local businesses as well.

When the local housing market is performing well, it means more people are moving to certain regions. This population increase boosts local economies, which means businesses by city and region see an increase in sales.

When it comes to the real estate market, home sales in a number of regions are on the path to a full recovery and local economies are benefiting in a big way.