Weintraub’s 2013 Real Estate Predictions

This Sacramento real estate agent and About.com homebuying expert finished her 2013 real estate predictions and forecast yesterday. It seemed like December 1 is a good target date to try to hit every year. It provides a healthy amount of time for people to argue with me before I head off to — this year it will be French Polynesia — my holiday vacation. And every year I get the same question: Elizabeth, how do you know this stuff?

I know this stuff because I look at the way things are going and I predict they will continue to move in that direction. Most of the time I am 100% on target with my forecast. Sometimes, things take a right or left turn or spin around and blow up, but not very often.

For example, one of my predictions is home prices will rise in 2013. They’re going up now in most major metropolitan cities. It doesn’t mean we have a recovery. It means inventory has shrunk and demand has grown. We’ve run out of homes to sell and buyers are clogging up the streets. I throw a home on the market and it’s like tossing bread crumbs to starving pigeons. They swoop down in droves and peck each other, jockeying for position to get a nibble.

Last year in my real estate predictions I talked about short sale fever. Oh, darn, there goes that song again in my head, White Line Fever. Nevertheless, I was spot on about that. Short sales took over and surpassed the position occupied by the foreclosure market. Many of the REO agents turned to try to do short sales. I don’t really agree that an REO agent is a good candidate to do a short sale because the qualities that make an REO agent successful are pretty much the opposite of the qualities inherent in an excellent short sale agent. 2013 will pretty much continue to be the year of the short sale.

The year 2013 will be an interesting ride. It marks my 39th year in the business. If you’re looking to buy or sell in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer or El Dorado County, rattle my cage. The Elizabeth Weintraub Team is well positioned to handle all of your real estate needs.