Print edition: 
Short of burying a St. Joseph sculpture in their backyard to hasten their home sale, Roger and Sandy Bales have done everything they can to sell their home in northeast Wichita.
They decluttered, depersonalized and did maintenance on their three-bedroom, three-bathroom house.
They made it pristine clean, put in hardwood floors and vinyl where there had once been carpeting.
But their 5-year-old house has been on the market since March.
"The few people who have looked at it have said we won't have any trouble selling this house," Sandy Bales said. "And honestly, I didn't think we'd have trouble. My sister-in-law told me about the St. Joseph statue — but I'm not superstitious. We are in a good location, but I think it's just people are nervous about making any changes in their current situation."
Blame it on the economy.
Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes plunged last month to the lowest level in 15 years, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades and bargain prices. Sharp declines were recorded in all regions of the country.
Even in Wichita, where the market is considerably better than the national average, sales still dropped in July to 559 units — a decline of almost 38 percent from June — because sales involving tax credits began filtering out of the system.
The number of existing homes on the market has increased.
"That was totally expected," said Gary Walker general manager of residential division for J.P. Weigand and Sons Inc. Realty.
"We knew we would be down significantly because of the accelerated purchases that took place by buyers who wanted to take advantage of tax credits, which closed by June 30," Walker said. "There was a big rush to get that accomplished. As a result there has been a real slowdown."
But the good news is that while sales may have been lower in July, they have picked up again. Last week, traffic in new home sales was up three times what it had been for the last month, Walker said.
"During the first half of August, business was not good," Walker said. "But that's normal. It was a combination of heat and people getting their kids ready to go back to school. What we are looking at as a gauge for the rest of the year is what's going to happen after school starts? Is it going to be dead or is business picking back up to normal levels?"
He remains cautiously optimistic about the rest of the year.
"We won't be as bad as we thought we might be. It's been a better year than most of us thought it would be as of December last year," Walker said. "We keep saying that with interest rates being where they are that if you have any inclination about buying a home, jump on the bandwagon. This is the best time in years to buy. That's not a sales pitch. It's just facts."
Nationally, the inventory of unsold homes on the market grew to nearly 4 million in July. That's a 12.5 month supply at the current sales pace, the highest level in more than a decade.
It compares with a healthy level of about six months.
The Wichita area has more existing houses on the market now than a year ago — 4,120 existing homes were for sale in June, a 16 percent increase over the same time last year.
Real estate agents say it amounts to a five- to six-month inventory of houses at the current sales pace. Wichita's housing market is considered a "balanced market."
If the supply exceeds six months, the market begins to favor buyers. When the supply is less than five months, the market favors sellers.
How to sell a house
Remember that old saying about how you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink? Same thing holds true for real estate.
It's all about attitude.
"There isn't anything we in real estate can do to force someone to buy," Walker said. "Our job is to deal with the facts. The facts are we do have an unemployment rate that is high — high for Wichita — but it is significantly less than other parts of the country."
The July unemployment rate in the Wichita area hit 8.4 percent — worse than June, but much better than the 10.3 percent in July 2009.
"Everybody is saying the same thing: Jobs would stimulate the economy, people would feel better about buying," said Willie Kihle, president of Prudential Dinning-Beard, Realtors. "But a certain portion of the answer is there are certain factors in home sales that never change. It doesn't matter what the market is like. Homes in great condition and priced right will always sell first. You still hear about homes that are listed and sell in a few days."
Location, pricing
With interest rates hovering in the 4.42 percent range, it is a good time to buy — but potential buyers may be hoping for home prices to fall even further, and sellers are reluctant to lower their prices. And many people can't qualify because banks have tightened their lending standards.
"The reasons some homes are still sitting is the location or the pricing," Walker said. "When there is a good inventory of homes, buyers can be more selective about what areas they buy in."
Houses selling best are in the $100,000 to $200,000 range. Houses in northeast and northwest Wichita are selling more quickly than in the more outlying areas of smaller communities and towns, Walker said.
Foreclosures are becoming more frequent, Walker said — but not at the rate in other parts of the nation such as Florida, California and Michigan.
On a national basis, foreclosures are running about 10 times higher than before the housing bust.
"We are not seeing it happening in clumps of neighborhoods," Walker said. "In spite of national economic conditions and the uncertainty of what is going to happen next, we have been fortunate to keep things balanced."
In southeast Wichita, the Baleses have their house listed at $239,900. They believe their house will sell — it was built as a model home for a new development.
"We believe we are in a really good location," Sandy Bales said. "It only takes one buyer."
