Competition is intense for customers

Shares shrinking? Hold on to your customers—if you can! Competition for customers among real estate firms remains intense, according to a 2005 nationwide study conducted by The Pennsylvania State University through partial funding by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Researchers combined MLS data and interviews in Tampa, St. Louis, Columbus, Ohio and nine other markets and found:

• Market share held by top firms is shrinking in most markets.
• In seven of the 12 markets, and four of the six largest, franchised firms have a larger percentage share of the market than do locally owned firms.
• All markets are growing, but growth is greater and competition is more intense in larger markets.
• No single firm dominates any of the 12 markets; there are changes in relative market share of the top firms in each of the 12 markets, market entry of new firms and market exit of existing firms.
• Online access to local real estate MLS data may be a critical factor in the surge in property values by acting as a “market-maker,” enabling sellers and buyers in each local real estate market to better access locally relevant information.
• There was no evidence of discount brokerage or for-sale-by-owner sales increasing even in the fastest-growing of the 12 markets studied. The discount brokerages that were engaged in the markets surveyed accounted for less than 1 percent of the total market.

• For more information, go to NAR’s Web site

Charting a steady course for tomorrow

For broker Gloria Frazier, the hardest part of weathering the current real estate market is getting her agents to change their tactics.

"You can ask the captain of the Queen Mary how many miles he has to go to turn around," she says from her office at ERA American Realty of Northwest Florida. "We've got the Queen Mary and we're doing a 180-degree turn. Some adapt readily and for some it's worse than going to the dentist."

• Read more about Gloria Frazier

Tip of the Week–The rental community recycles

Here’s a snapshot of what renters and property managers do to help conserve and protect the environment, according to an Apartments.com survey.

Some interesting facts:
 
SOURCE: Apartments.com