Opinions on the Great Recession and its impact on real estate

It's clear that residential real estate and the related lending helped play a role in the current recession. Because of this, the industry is now doing a lot of reflection on what their role should be and what real estate professionals can do to fix their situation.

The Chicago Real Estate Examiner says that Realtors are taking on more in their roles and how the element of  time has changed. A  real estate sale is no longer about getting the deal done the fastest, but rather in getting the client the best deal. This is especially true with rising short sales and foreclosures, which can take a while 

The good news, veiled as it may be, is that there are more bidders on properties- one source quoted that there are sometimes 35 bidders on a single property. Distressed properties might be bringing more bidders to the table.

More good news comes from Mr. Chicago Real Estate, who says that the market has bottomed out. Many of Chicago's major cities have had  three consecutive months of non-record-low numbers. Plus, Chicago never experienced as extreme pricing as the coasts did, so even Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast are not as bad in terms of buyer-seller divergence as NY and LA.

And Dean Moss, a northwest side Realtor, reports that the luxury segment is continuing to suffer as the wealthy aren't feeling out of the woods yet. He predicts a slow recovery and says you should emphasize quality and craftsmanship when selling luxury products.

So the jury's still out on if we're coming back out of this soon. My opinion is that the recession has effected everyone differently, so talk to your Realtor if you have concerns about how this will affect your home search.