Gary Carpenter

"Increased Profits at Keller Williams Greater Omaha Market Center"

Gang, this is a great blog post by "The KCM Blog"! As the CEO of Keller Williams Greater Omaha, I agree with most of what they are predicting. Each month I compare our company's numbers to the local board's and for the past 3 months we have experienced an awesome trend in contracts written.   April +56.7%, May +133.3%, June +141.3% and we are up +52.9% for the year thus far. I am very optimistic that this trend will continue even going into the slower selling months! While other markets are not experiencing these types of increases, our agents are enjoying the increased business.  Since we cap our agents on how much they have to pay into the company, they are also enjoying increased PROFITS!

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Making predictions can be the ‘kiss-of-death’ for a blog. Even if we get four out of five correct (80%), there are those in the industry who will kill us on the one we got wrong. We believe strongly that when making a real estate decision for you and your family you must look forward and take into consideration how the housing market may change.

For this reason, we are willing to take on the possible wrath of our counterparts by sticking out our necks and predicting these will be the major real estate news stories from now until the end of the year.

Interest Rates Rise

Many, including us, have been surprised that rates have not risen already. However, the next several months are going to see three distinct changes that will propel rates upward.

1. As the government starts to leave the mortgage market, private industry will step in. Private industry demands a higher rate of return on their investments. Mortgages will be no different. Studies have shown that 30 year mortgage rates could increase by 1 to 3% over the current rate.
2. In many higher priced markets, rolling back Conforming Loan Limits means that rates for the mortgages on these properties will resort back to the rates on private jumbo loans. The FHFA informed us that last year, the difference between mortgage rates for jumbo loans and jumbo-conforming mortgages has varied between about ½ and ¾ of a percentage point.
3. As the economy gets better (and we believe it will), the pressure to keep rates low to stimulate growth will abate.

Some Loan Requirements Tighten but More Can Now Get a Loan

Lending institutions have already started to introduce stricter mortgage guidelines. Whether the Quality Residential Mortgage (QRM) requirements are instituted as originally proposed or eased somewhat, there is no doubt that guidelines will continue to tighten as we work through the year. However, we believe the private sector will again start introducing alternative mortgage financing but at a greater expense to the consumer. You WILL be able to get a mortgage. It will just cost you more.

Housing Sales Increase

Contracted sales have shown consistent improvement over the last six months and we feel this will continue and actually begin gaining even greater momentum. We believe there is a ‘pent-up’ buying demand caused by the volatility of the market over the last several years. When interest rates start to move upward and alternative financing becomes more available, these buyers will start to jump off the fence. We believe there will be a major upswing in sales over the next six months.

Distressed Properties Increase Markedly 

More people are paying their mortgage on time and that is great news for housing in the long term. However, the numbers of distressed properties currently in the foreclosure process is still very swollen. These properties will begin coming to the market in the second half of the year as short sales and foreclosures. The numbers will be staggering in some areas.

Prices Continue to Soften in Most Markets 

The current housing inventory for sale and the distressed properties about to come on the market will vastly outnumber the increased supply of purchasers we will see over the next six months. There will be more houses for sale then there will be buyers purchasing them. That oversupply will continue to put downward pressure on prices through the rest of this year and into 2012.

You now know what we believe will take place in real estate between now and the end of the year.

 

Keller Williams Realty Dominates REAL Trends 500 Survey

Keller Williams Realty Dominates REAL Trends 500 Survey
2nd largest real estate franchise in U.S. continues to show growth

 

AUSTIN, TEXAS (April 13, 2011) — On the heels of announcing its position as the second-largest real estate franchise in the United States by agent count, Keller Williams Realty continues to post positive growth and strong presence in industry rankings. 

 

The company’s brokerages dominated the recently released REAL Trends 500, an annual industry ranking published by REAL Trends, Inc., a leading source of analysis and information on the residential brokerage and housing industry.Keller Williams brokerages represented 24 percent (199 offices) of the top 500 brokerages ranked by closed transactions and 28 percent (138 offices) of the top 500 brokerages ranked by closed volume. The number of brokers ranked on the list surpassed all other major franchise players – with twice the number of brokers represented (by closed transactions) and almost three times the number of brokers represented (by closed volume) compared to Coldwell Banker, currently the largest real estate company in the U.S. by agent count.

 

“These rankings serve as proof to the entire industry that we’re not just growing in agent count, the productivity of our already successful associates and offices is rising higher as well," said Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

 

“We recognize that the success of our brokers and our associates on these rankings is a direct result of the quality of people we’re in business with," added Mary Tennant, president and COO of Keller Williams Realty, Inc. “Time and time again, we’re reminded how resilient and positive our leaders and associates are in today’s real estate market."

 

In March of this year, the company announced that it had surpassed Century 21 as the second largest real estate franchise in agent count in the United States.

 

Along with growth in numbers, the company received many accolades in 2010 including:

·         Entrepreneur magazine, No. 1 ranked real estate franchise on the 31^st Annual Franchise 500 list

·         J.D. Power and Associates, highest in overall satisfaction ratings from home buyers among the largest full-service real estate firms for the third year in a row

·         Inman News, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board Gary Keller named one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate

·         Training Magazine, highest ranking real estate franchise on the annual Training Top 125, #47 Overall

 

For more details, the full report is available on the REAL Trends Website: http://www.realtrends.com/products/rt500.

 

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About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.:

Founded in 1983, Keller Williams Realty Inc. is the second-largest real estate franchise operation in the United States, with 701 offices and almost 80,000 associates in the United States and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to leading-edge education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates as stakeholders and partners. The company also provides specialized agents in luxury homes and commercial real estate properties. For more information, or to search for homes for sale visit Keller Williams Realty online at (www.kw.com). Information about Keller Williams Realty’s international expansion can be found at (www.kwworldwide.com).