Coldwell Banker CEO: Affordability Rising, Local Trends Matter Most

The strong July existing home-sales data will push the national housing story into the background in favor of local market trends, said Budge Huskey, CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. Huskey said he is seeing prices decelerate, which is normal after seeing gains of 10% that are not reflective of a normal market. Moving forward, he expects the market will move to moderate price gains more closely aligned with overall macroeconomic environment indicators such as job and wage growth. As for inventory, Huskey said homes that are market ready are selling quickly. However, he said his agents are finding that homes that are not fully prepared for sale are languishing even in markets with reduced inventory.