Consumer Confidence
Q: Has your confidence level in the local, state and world economy increased or decreased since last year, and why?
Holly Walther: From an end user mortgage perspective, the housing market is improving and will continue to improve as the US economic recovery continues. Our primary focus is Metro Atlanta which is relatively stable due to the diverse industry segments and broad employment base.
Jessica Jakulski: My confidence has increased in all aspects because the global economy has stabilized, oil prices are lower and job growth continues to increase which lead to a recovery in housing and increased consumer spending.
Q: Has your confidence level in the local, state and world economy increased or decreased since last year, and why?
Lane Jones: On several occasions the media has questioned statistics released by the administration regarding the term “recovery”. Almost every time, the statistics were quietly revised to show a less rosy picture. The bottom line is simple – if the average “Joe” and “Jane” don’t feel more confident and optimistic then things have not recovered. “Economic recovery” is a very personal opinion despite the fact that the world is a much smaller place.
Q: Do you think the number of agents will increase/is the industry attracting more agents?
Lane Jones: Agent numbers swell when the market becomes active. As the role of agent changes to more consultant and advisor, the challenge will be for the industry to recognize and adjust. I will say this: we are seeing an increase in students in the schools. But what we’re also seeing is these students have full time jobs. The number of interviews I’ve done for agents recently, they all have been employed. What I’m hearing from them is they’re not very confident in the jobs they’re currently in. They’re looking at this as a potential if their job situation should change, but they’re not committing to getting into the industry. They’re just looking at it as what they could do if their current employment changes.
Marsha Sell: The industry is still attracting agents. When the market is good, you get more agents, and that’s probably always true.
Jim Smith: Georgia lost 1.4 percent of licensed agents in the past year, but the membership in the Georgia Association of Realtors grew by over 7 percent – so it will probably keep increasing.
What do you predict happening with third party aggregators, especially the Zillow/Trulia possible merger and anything with realtor.com, next year?
Lane Jones: Aggregators created a “transparency” if you will for the consumer. While not always accurate, it put data in the hands of the consumer. Our industry had the agent as the keeper of the data for years until these third party aggregators came along. It has challenged the status quo and exclusivity of the data however, the consumer having the data does not mean they know how to interrupt or apply it so quality agents will also be valued. Overall, this is a good thing for the industry as it results in better educated clients and gives agents a chance to demonstrate a working knowledge of the business. Real estate is becoming less about sales and more about consultation and advice.
Jim Smith: I do not have a prediction about Zillow/Trulia, but I can tell you that REALTOR.Com and its parent company Move are being purchased by Newscorp for 950 million dollars.
REALTOR.Com is known for its high degree of accuracy and with the acquisition by Newscorp I expect significant growth of REALTOR.Com
Q: How confident are you in the housing market for 2015?
Jenny Wagner: Everybody always needs to buy a house. There are people who are always going to be moving. I think with the change in the election that happened in November, I think it’s going to be a positive market, and if I perform my job to the best of my abilities, every year will be a good year.
Lane Jones:The housing market is married to the economy and that does not seem to be a healthy union. All of the stats and hyperbole put out is meaningless; the single most important factor is the confidence of the home buyer and seller. If they don’t have the confidence and ability to execute then that is a problem. I feel like we’re just going to hold steady. I don’t see a huge rise and I don’t see a huge downfall. We’re just going to bump along where we’ve been this year. I just don’t see huge numbers or a huge fall, particularly because I don’t see any major change in confidence of consumer. I just think it’s going to remain about the same.
Marsha Sell: Very confident – i’m optimistic. is inventory going to be abundant? still will have to be diligent on building up listing inventory amd inventory will still be down to a degree. agents will need to be more focused on getting listings, key to success for any agent.
Jim Smith: I expect we will see continued improvement but not at a dramatic pace. I would like to see the millennials come into the market in a more meaningful way. This generation is not purchasing their first home at the same pace as prior generations.