REALTOR LOOKING BEHIND THE HEADLINES
A recent newspaper story about the number of $1 million-plus houses that sold in August caught the attention of Kim Ogilvie, a top-selling Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co.
It was not for the most positive of reasons.
The high-end market may be seeing a lot of sales, she noted, but more than half of the purchase prices of those August transactions were for less than the sellers had paid for the properties.
“Buyers are still very sensitive to price,” she said, especially when they are spending $3 million or more. “They are not willing to throw their money around.”
Yet in such an environment, and with the headlines touting price gains of 10 to 12 percent, Ogilvie said, “Sellers are so cocky that everyone is trying to raise their prices 10 percent. I am losing listings because they want to raise their asking prices. Some agent will get that listing (by agreeing to list at an inflated price) and then have to cut the price” to sell the house.
“We could see another bubble; we could be the victim of our own creation.”
— Harold Bubil, Real Estate Today
FROM OUR READERS
RE: “For Pink Palace, a new hue,” Herald-Tribune, Sept. 9, page 1-A:
“In 1951, I was a participant in the DeSoto Queen contest. One of the events was a fashion show at the Bradenton Country Club, where we wore clothes from various stores. My assigned store was in the Manatee River Hotel; all the girls thought I was so fortunate as the hotel was the place in town, and the stores were very exclusive.
“The hotel had an ad in the program that said, ‘Manatee River Hotel — 170 rooms make the town’s largest and finest Home away from Home.’
“I was in the grand parade on Saturday with a Cotillion in the evening. After the Cotillion, the girls and their dates went to the M’Toto Room at the Ringling Hotel. I worked there when they were filming ‘The Greatest Show on Earth.’
“Thought you might like to know more about the hotel.”— Carole Nikla
