The Nature of the Beast..... aka The Market?

I get asked this one question all the time. "How is the market?" There really is only one correct answer, that depends on what neighborhood you live in.

 At a recent open house the conversation went as such:
 "So Fred.... how is the market really doing?"
 "Well Steve, That's a good question, what neighborhood do you live in?"
" I live in Kalamazoo. So how is the market in Kalamazoo?"
 "That's to broad an area no one has an accurate enough answer for that. I need to know what neighborhood you live in to accurately answer that."
" I live in Winchell."
"Well.... I just ran a report for that neighborhood yesterday for someone. Your market is good. The average home sale price is around 150K which is roughly were it was in 2004."
"So that is good! Well then isn't it like that for all of Kalamazoo then?"
"No. As an example lets take Milwood. The average home price there is 70K. In 2004 it was 110K. So as you can see, that neighborhood doesn't have as strong of a market as yours. At it's peak Milwood was around 115K now it's 70K. Winchell was at 170K at the peak and today is 150K."
"I didn't realize it varied so much by neighborhood."
"Yes it does and it can vary drastically. Such as Arcadia. At it's peak it was 160K and today it is about 90K."

That is the nature of the beast. Markets vary by neighborhood and location has a lot to do with it.