| BACK
|
|
Real estate down; offices close (Posted Date :Sunday, February 3, 2008) |
Several local related businesses affected by downturn
The current housing slump, which is expected to continue through 2008, is causing local real estate businesses to close their doors.
“Unfortunately, when the market peaked we had a lot of properties pop up,” said Carolyn McNamara, owner of the McNamara Group, a local realty company that has been in business for almost 20 years.
“My projection is in the next six months we’ll see 20 percent less of the offices up here than we do now.”
McNamara said that there were five or six real estate offices in Phelan until the housing boom, when the number jumped to 12.
Two of those have already closed since the housing downturn, McNamara said.
“The biggest problem is that when things were red hot, everybody jumped on the band wagon,” McNamara said. “You have to be prepared for the change in the market. You have to have reserves to keep your office going.”
Gary Stater of Apple Valley has been in the real estate business for 39 years and said he is relying on referrals and former clients to stay afloat.
“Our business is not based on new clients,” he said of Gary Stater Realty. “I’ve heard that businesses are closing. You can only bear so much overhead. That’s the bottom line.”
Caroll Yule, president of the Victor Valley Association of Realtors, said that the California Association of Realtors is expecting a 20 to 30 percent decrease in the number of Realtors by the end of 2008.
“I’m expecting in the Victor Valley we’ll probably lose closer to 40 percent,” Yule said.
One of the biggest hits to the real estate market is the recent rise in foreclosures.
According to USA Today, lenders filed close to 24,000 notices of default last year in San Bernardino County, up nearly 150 percent from 2006.
By: Ryan Orr, Staff Writer
By : Daily Press |
|