Some agents are taking extra pains to ensure fellow agents know the virtues of their listings. Nancy Goldcamp, a Coldwell Banker agent in Palo Alto, recently hired a chauffeured car to whisk her colleagues to breakfast at one of her listings in Redwood Shores. The house sold in nine days. The ultimate marketing tool may be price reductions, also a common sight this spring, especially on homes where sellers were a bit too optimistic in setting asking prices. But these are not desperate gestures, just symptoms of a market that's evening out, real estate professionals say.
Buyers have more to choose from and are taking their time.
Many are hesitating because they are worried about the future of the economy and of their own jobs. In addition, some have been waiting to see if sellers keep reducing prices or if interest rates will drop more. Also on Wednesday the National Association of Realtors released data showing that sales of existing U.S. homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.44 million units, up 3.8 percent from March 2000. The rate measures how many homes would sell in the nation if sales continued at the March rate.