LAS VEGAS — With so many homes and condos sitting on the market month after month, their fresh-paint smell fading and owners’ costs rising, Realtors must find a way to sell.
They must.
For many, the two-year-long sales slump is cutting commissions and straining nerves. To restore their spirits, more than 30,000 members and guests of the National Association of Realtors arrived at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino last week for their annual Conference & Expo. The record number of participants came seeking information on their industry and craving the crazy energy of the never-sleep city where luck can turn in a blink.
Among the most enthusiastic was John Mike, chairman of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches in Florida. While home sales have dropped nationwide, they have plummeted in Florida, which NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun called “ground zero for the housing market slump.”
The Florida Association of Realtors says that in September, statewide sales by Realtors plunged 38 percent compared with the same month a year ago. Prices were down 9 percent from 2006, which was a lousy year too.
The fun of flipping houses for quick profits ended in late 2005.
In the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area where Mike works for Prudential Florida WCI Realty, median resale prices for single-family homes have tumbled from $400,000 two years ago to $355,300.
In September, only 471 houses sold, compared with 1,202 in the same month of 2005.
Despite the hard times, or perhaps because of them, the convention set an attendance record. Realtors seeking a competitive edge flocked to seminars with titles such as “Understanding your Online Competition,” “How Never to Become Obsolete” and “Win Over the Wealthy with Lifestyle Marketing.”
Besides the pump-you-up talks, the schedule was packed with practical training classes on how to stop computer hackers and better use digital cameras and PDAs. Many Realtors ignored the lure of the big-name entertainment nearby and sunshine outside to study software designed to improve their ability to manage e-mail, do taxes and design brochures.
In some sessions, Realtors vented their anger about regulators, lenders and others they blame for lost income. But their spirits brightened as they spotted silver linings.
Sure, many Americans are afraid to buy real estate right now, but with the falling dollar, “we’re expecting a lot of Canadians this year,” Jim Walker, a Realtor from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., noted.
At the convention, NAR released its official forecast for 2008, calling for a “modest recovery” in the number of homes sold and steady prices.
Even without the promise of a coming boom, Realtors are hanging tough. NAR says membership is holding steady at 1.3 million.
