Letter from the President - Bob Weiss

March 1, 2010
 
The year 2009 is now well behind us, and we can look back at the results.
We in the industry always remain optimistic, regardless of current
conditions, and I saw that optimism from many agents throughout last year,
and we at Yavapai remained encouraging to all of you. The results didn’t
match our enthusiasm, as we found that, for the entire county, deeds
recorded by title companies during the year decreased by 4.5% from the year
2008. We were a little surprised, perhaps because we all believed so fully in
our optimistic view of the market. The first two months of 2010 have not
been promising in terms of numbers of new escrow transactions either, so
we must ask the obvious question: “what is the prognosis for real estate in
Yavapai County for the year 2010”?
 
After a lot of reading and research, I have come to a conclusion that I
humbly submit to you: First, the good news. After some 40+ months of
decline, not only in numbers of transactions, but in average sales price, we
seem to have reached a point where those decreases have slowed to a
veritable trickle, if not stopped altogether. Secondly, the stall that we remain
in is a direct result of uncertainty in the overall economy. That uncertainty, I
believe, follows attempts by Washington to “help” the economy, with an
obvious lack of positive result, and by “gridlock” in congress over several
issues, particularly the bill involving 16%+ of our economy. That
uncertainty causes businessmen and entrepreneurs to put their future on hold
for fear of the unknown, and individuals to stop buying.
 
Real estate is a vital part of our economy, and is one of the major factors that
will lead us out of this recession, along with consumer spending and the
automobile industry, among others. I have great faith in this country, in it’s
remarkably resilient people and way of life, as well as what is considered to
be, arguably, the most vibrant economy ever known. We will survive this
recession, and eventually recover. Exactly when we recover could be
helped greatly by Washington coming to it’s collective senses, stopping the
overspending and dithering and let the free market do what it does best -
produce products, provide services, put people back to work and create
wealth. If Washington doesn’t see that and act on it, the recovery may take
longer, but will still happen despite, not because, of them.