Local Market Observations
What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Vacancies? “Newly released census figures show a marked increase since 2000 in vacant housing across Brevard County. Palm Bay’s housing vacancy rate climbed from 5.8 percent in 2000 to 10.4 percent last year. Most of those residences are single-family, detached homes. ‘We’re unique to some degree in that a lot of these vacancies were never occupied,’ said Lee Feldman, city manager. ‘They are investor- owned properties that came on the market as the housing bubble burst … so some are being held until the market comes back.’”
“The census counted 261,179 vacant housing units in Massachusetts last year, up from 178,409 vacant units in 2000. Daniel J. Robertson, VP of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Northboro, said increased vacancy isn’t surprising, given the foreclosure crisis of the last few years. ‘With the economy being the way it is, the vacancy rate obviously has gone up,’ he said. ‘I think it may be even higher than what they’re representing.’”
Or auctions? “Eight Rochelle Park condominiums originally listed for more than $500,000 sold for an average of about $360,000 in an auction Thursday night, auctioneer Max Spann Jr. said. The two-bedroom, three-bath condos, ranging in size from 1,600 to 2,300 square feet, were the last units unsold in the 80-unit Windsor Court complex on Rochelle Avenue. Spann said about 200 people attended the auction, and that sale prices for the units ranged from $297,000 to $533,000. The units originally had asking prices of $524,000 to $690,000.”
“The city of Avon awarded a lot in Avon Estates to the lone bidder this week, but city officials are hoping a tax break will lure more buyers to the struggling development. Monday was the deadline to submit a bid for one of five lots in Avon Estates that the city had hoped to sell to jump-start the development it purchased this year. Only one house has been built on the 307-acre property. The minimum bid was $10,000, and the lone bid was for $10,100, said Jodi Austing-Traut, city clerk-administrator.”
Lower prices? “The national housing market is at the precipice of a ‘double dip’ in falling prices because of the disappearance of federal tax incentives and large numbers of distressed homes, a financial advisory firm said in a forecast. ‘I don’t think anyone is expecting a drastic improvement in the housing market in 2011,’ Sean McSweeney of Clear Capital said. ‘2012 is in question as well.’”
“McSweeney, Clear Capital’s product management director for data and analytics, said his company defines a ‘double dip’ as housing prices slipping below March 2009 levels, which could happen if present trends continue. For that to happen within the Ontario-San Bernardino-Riverside market, prices would have to drop 8 percent from their current level, McSweeney said.”
“Nationally, home prices have fallen 11.5 percent in the nine months ending April, a rate of descent not seen since 2008, according to the firm.”
“The organizations’ data for March show year-over-year price drops in the single-digits for the Inland Empire and Los Angeles areas. The company’s data show nearly 50 percent and 34 percent of homes selling in the Inland Empire and Greater Los Angeles markets, respectively, are lender-owned properties. ‘Whenever that goes up, total prices go down,’ McSweeney said.”
