Market Slowing down?

Homes don't sell as quicklyLocal market slows as buyers get The number of houses for sale in Brevard County has more than doubled in the last year, real estate officials say.
And that may be a sign the market is starting to cool off, since it's taking a little longer to sell a home now than it did a year ago, possibly because buyers are balking at unreasonable asking prices.
In addition, the president of the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday predicted that the national real estate market would cool off a bit next year because of rising mortgage interest rates.
There were 5,795 single-family homes and condos listed for sale in Brevard at the end of September, up from 2,205 a year ago, according to data compiled by the Space Coast Association of Realtors.
The association reports that 59 percent of the housing units sold in September took more than 60 days to sell, up from 51 percent in September 2004.
"I personally think it's taking longer to sell homes now," said Kathy Starkey, a real estate agent and president of the Space Coast Association of Realtors.
"Brevard has been discovered," said Richard Scuoteguazza, president of the Melbourne Area Association of Realtors. "We are no longer an undervalued market."
Still, he said he doesn't think the local housing market has run out of steam.
"It's still a sellers' market," Scuoteguazza said.
Some home sellers, though, are concerned.
Roy and Margaret Epling of Palm Bay recently put their approximately 1,000-square-foot pool home on the market for $173,000.
Margaret Epling said she would have been justified asking for $177,000 or more, but she was concerned about selling it quickly.
"Everyone is saying the market is slowing down," she said. "I want to make sure it sold."
Christine Vinson, president/broker at Diamond Realty Management Inc. in Rockledge, said she senses a slowing of the market but nothing to indicate a "bottoming out."
"I'd say there's a bit of a 'buyers' rebellion,' " Vinson said. That is, people are not rushing to pay more than the asking price on a home.
On two recent occasions, Vinson said, clients were pre-approved for $400,000 mortgages, yet they insisted on not paying more than $325,000 for homes they were considering buying.
"There's more of a cautiousness," Vinson said. "People are saying: 'Let me get more for my money.' "
The Florida Association of Realtors reported last month that the median resale price for a single-family home in Brevard County reached $248,700 in August, topping the statewide median for the first time.
Five years ago, the local median price was $91,800. At the median, half the homes sell for more and half for less.
In a statement released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors, the organization's president, Al Mansell, predicts some "easing in home sales" next year.
"The rise in mortgage interest rates is likely to have a slight braking action on the housing market, and the upside of that is it would help to bring the market closer to balance between home buyers and sellers," Mansell said.