Fritz Pfister

What a year 2005 has shaped up to become. Following 7 straight years of record sales The Capital Area Association of Realtors (CAAR) will set a new record for the number of home sales for the eighth year in a row! Congratulations to all the hard working agents in the association. The consumer of the Greater Springfield area is truly blessed with such professional real estate brokers and agents.

With unemployment below 5% and mortgage interest rates holding 1.5% below the 20 year average all looks well for another run at a record in 2006. If another record isn’t established it will be close. Only a change in the fundamentals will prevent another record, such as increased unemployment or a sharp increase in interest rates.

The challenge for brokers, agents, and home sellers is the rising number of homes for sale. Will there be enough demand to absorb the record number of homes listed for sale? Current inventories are up 14% over 2004 in December, and up 42% over December of 2003. The year 2005 started with 1203 actively available residential listings in the CAAR MLS , compared to the start of 2004 when there were only 934. With an inventory of 1526 on Dec. 21, 2005 it is likely that 2006 will start the year with over 1400 homes available for sale in the MLS. We may set a new record for sales in 2006, however there will be hundreds more homes that don’t sell compared to the past couple of years. In fact, YTD 2005, 2684 residential listings either withdrew or expired without a sale, while 52% of listings had sold and closed.

Congratulations to RE/MAX Professionals for leading all real estate brokerages for the 16th consecutive year in sales. The agents of RE/MAX have established an incomparable record in service to the real estate consumer. Some quick facts about 2005 YTD. Closed residential listings; RE/MAX 1146, 2nd place company 422. Closed residential buyer sales; RE/MAX 1121, 2nd place company 498. Total closed residential transactions RE/MAX 2267, 2nd place company 859. Total closed residential sales volume; RE/MAX $301,232,120, 2nd place company $123,864,510.

The home sellers of 2006, facing the stiffest competition for home buyers experienced in years, need to know which company is getting the job done. The problem is that most home sellers, and home buyers believe real estate agents and companies are interchangeable. The sales report in the previous paragraph destroys that notion! The consumer who believes agents are interchangeable are those most likely to fail to sell, or make poor purchasing decisions.

The Pfister Success Team Inc. of RE/MAX Professionals acknowledges that we are not number one, our clients are. A special thank you to the 142 families we have successfully served in the sale or purchase of a home in 2005. Some agents count their success in dollars sold and dollars earned. We count our success and blessings, one family at a time. It would be an honor to serve your family in 2006. Thank you from Fritz & Kristie Pfister, Janice Butler, Denny Pryor, Amy Mason, Mary Valencia, Faye Roth, and Teresa Singer.

As a result of the continued support of local families our team became the only agent or team in our market to successfully serve over 100 families in the sale or purchase of a home for 6 consecutive years, in fact serving 224 more families than anyone else, since the founding of The Pfister Success Team Inc. in 2000. We are honored and humbled by your trust.

Congratulations to Fritz Pfister for earning the RE/MAX International Chairmans Award. Fritz is the only RE/MAX Professional agent to have accomplished this extraordinary feat four straight years, and is one of fewer than 950 agents worldwide of the 116,000 agents in the RE/MAX system to have earned this award every year since its inception in 2002.