Financial Crisis, Real Estate Agent Corporate Strategic Countermeasures

The sub-prime loan crisis that was developed early 2007 in USA has ultimately led to the financial crisis that is currently spreading worldwide. As a result, many countries and areas are facing the challenges of economic recession. The impact to USA, one of the biggest economic powers in the world, is in particular serious. The economy of USA is walking into a deep recession. Corporate profits are going down, the total import and export are deceasing, and the jobless rate is continuously increasing. Under these difficult domestic and international conditions, the real estate market of USA is facing unprecedented challenges. Many families are forced to leave their homes, real estate developers have to reduce production, and many banks have to go through bankruptcy. Foreclosures and short sales are flooding into the market, so that supplies of houses are increasing; in the meanwhile, more people are losing their jobs and / or reducing their spending powers, and the consumer confidence index is dropping sharply, so that the demand of the housing market is fast decreasing. As the result, the total sales of US houses are decreasing, and the housing price is sharply down in most regions across USA.Why is the US real estate industry in deep recession? What are the reasons behind the real estate crisis of USA? What challenges are the housing industries facing in USA? And how real estate brokerage firms should do under the current economic conditions?This paper is trying to answer the above questions based on a detailed review of the market conditions and quantitative analysis of the market data.The paper starts with a detailed analysis of the formation of the real estate bubble in the housing market and the reasons why the bubble went burst. The paper then studies the relationships between the sub-prime crisis, and housing market meltdown, the financial crisis, and the economic recession. Later on in the paper the value chain of the US real estate market is analyzed, and the "five-force model" is used to study the competitive environment of the real estate brokerage industry. By taking as an example a real estate brokerage firm (Company A) in the Silicon Valley in USA, the impact of the financial crisis on the real estate brokerage business is carefully studied. Strategies and tactics are discussed in detail, in an effort to help Company A to meet the challenges from the current market crisis. The "gold tri-angle" strategy is recommended to Company A, that takes customer relationship management (CRM) as the key, and uses team building and brand development as the two supporting elements. The band development effort is based on a 360°sales-and-marketing tactic that integrates the effort of CRM and sales efforts. The competitive edge of the company will be strengthened with brand development.The research results based on the analysis of Company A should have a general guidance to similar companies in USA, so that they can better face the challenges. The detailed analysis of the US housing market in this paper should also be of interest and benefits to people who want to understand the real estate industry in USA. Finally, the research method and results presented in this paper should be of value to the studies of the real estate industry and the real estate brokerage business in China.