Is the real estate market still strong?!

As some of you may know, I don't just teach the real estate courses. I am a real estate broker that has actively bought/sold/represented over the last 6+ years. The president of a large real estate company called me up about 6 weeks ago with the following situation:

"I have access to an REO portfolio with the opportunity to buy properties directly from asset managers. I need to know what price I should pay to make money and insulate myself from further market fluctuations."

He gave me a list of properties and asked for my opinion on pricing. I told him what I thought and he ended up buying one of the properties at the recommended price and I relisted it for him. The property ended up selling within two days for almost full price!

I went there today to see if the utilities were on and I found fifteen cards there from real estate agents! FIFTEEN people came and saw the property either with their buyers or previewed them for their buyer.

It is in escrow now for 98% of list price and the buyer is putting 50% down!

There is hope yet!