Local Market Observations
What do you see in your housing market? Auctions? “Two new East Harlem condominiums will hit the auction block next month as their anxious developers forego the traditional brokerage route and instead attempt to unload the entirety of their inventory in one shot, auctioneer Paramount Realty USA said. In all, 34 units once listed for a combined $20 million will go up for sale, with eight of those units being sold with no minimum bid. The first of the two buildings, the 12-unit Winfield condo was developed by Lou Foundos. Prices had ranged from $325,000 to $650,000 per unit previously, but suggested opening bids at the auction begin at $149,000.”
“‘I need to sell at least a substantial portion of the units in my building very quickly to help facilitate financings,’ Foundos explained.”
“The sprawling Banning Lewis Ranch development site, whose owners filed for bankruptcy last year, could go up for auction in late June. The owners’ proposal is the latest development in the bankruptcy of the 21,500-acre ranch, which makes up most of Colorado Springs’ east side.”
“As originally envisioned by its owners and the city of Colorado Springs, the development eventually would include 75,000 residences, 180,000 people and 79 million square feet of commercial space.”
Property tax issues? “With thousands of appeals expected from property owners, Gwinnett County could again face a temporary property tax billing. With a May 31 deadline, about 5,000 appeals had been filed, as of Tuesday afternoon. In the past five months, officials have worked to close a possible $18 million budget gap expected by an 8.7 percent drop in the county’s tax digest, another fall due to the crash of the housing and commercial property market.”
“While that gap was closed, newly elected Chairwoman Charlotte Nash asked for another evaluation of the situation, with officials projecting a low, middle and high scenario for the drop, which could mean a drop of up to $46 million. ‘It’s not without pain that we try to remain even,’ Nash said of the possibilities.”
“Vast swaths of Franklin County are overappraised for tax purposes - in some cases by large margins - which means your tax bill could be based on an inflated value of what your home is worth, a Dispatch analysis of property-tax records shows. Thanks to plunging property prices, appraisals were too high on more than half of the 24,000-plus Franklin County properties that sold from 2008 to 2010, which were included in a state sales-ratio study.”
“‘This reappraisal will certainly be unprecedented in at least a generation,’ Franklin County Auditor Clarence Mingo said.”
“The auditors’ opinions of values were correct at the time (they were set six years ago), ‘but times have been tough,’ said Rick Benjamin, president of the Columbus Board of Realtors. ‘I just purchased a (Dublin) home last August; the appraised value was $248,000 - the sale price, $205,000.’”
Or foreclosures? “Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties in April continued to post among the highest foreclosure rates among major metropolitan areas in the country, RealtyTrac Inc. is reporting. The uptick in San Joaquin County filings in April was due primarily to a surge in bank repossessions, said RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist.”
“Banks recorded 504 repossessions in the county last month, up nearly 32 percent from 382 repossessions, also called ‘real estate owned,’ in March. ‘You kind of see these mini-waves of REOs hit,’ Blomquist said. ‘It’s almost like the lenders are pushing through batches of REOs as they are able to or deem appropriate.’”
Hopefully the table below formatted okay. Apologies if it didn’t.
The follow are two properties in the same condo building in the University Heights area of San Diego. The first is a one bedroom and the second a two bedroom. Given the long period of listing for each property and the fact that neither has sold at the lowest listing price strongly suggests the market price is somewhere below the lowest listing price. However, the Zillow price estimate is significantly above the lowest listing price for each of these two condos.
1 BR Condo (865 sqft) - Current Zillow est - $215,000
Date Description Price $/sqft
03/13/2011 Listed for sale * $145,000 $168
02/13/2011 Listing removed * $145,000 $168
12/16/2010 Price change * $145,000 $168
11/20/2010 Price change * $170,000 $197
10/30/2010 Price change * $190,000 $220
05/25/2006 Sold $300,000 $348
06/11/1999 Sold $95,000 $110
03/07/1997 Sold $85,000 $98
2 BR Condo (1162 sqft) - Current Zillow est - $292,000
Date Description Price $/sqft
04/12/2011 Listing removed * $230,000 $197
03/30/2011 Price change * $230,000 $197
03/05/2011 Price change * $259,900 $223
01/23/2011 Listed for sale * $279,900 $240
05/17/2005 Sold $408,000 $351
10/29/1998 Sold $120,000 $103
02/19/1993 Sold $103,000 $88
In the Boston area, the NAR crime syndicate/Boston Globe is saying the “bottom is in” for the umpteenth time. It is almost comical…
I’m still surrounded by abandoned homes here in FL.
8050 SFRs currently listed on the SD County MLS (according to Redfin); 1515 of these offered at $1m+; 2308 from $500K to $1m; 4190 at $500K or below (ruh-roh…).
In West LA, I am finally seeing real signs of market change. In my neighborhood, Mar Vista, sales are not occurring very fast, so “for sale” signs are proliferating and inventory is rising. I’ve seen a few “price reduced” placards, too, but it’s clear that the offers are not as easy as in the past. Prices are still ridiculous, however, but moving in the right direction. I wonder how many of my neighbors are living payment-free…
In other news, Mrs. Credit Crunch and I will reach our home down payment goal this summer. No matter how tight credit gets, our planning and diligence should allow us the ability to buy when the time is right. Bring on the interest rate hikes, tight credit, and lower prices!
Five new SF listings came on the market in my town yesterday. Lately I’ve been noticing between one and five new listings each day (a few of those are sellers resetting their DOM number).
In one nearby neighborhood, hardly anything comes on the market. While it is a somewhat desirable neighborhood, most folks there are very deep underwater, and can’t afford to sell without a lender’s cooperation via short sale. There is one short sale under contract, but the only active listing is asking $50,000 over the same model’s last sold comp. If that seller of the active listing unloads it at the same price as that last sold comp, he’ll have enough to pay off the mortgage, but he’ll have to bring money to the table to pay off the real estate agents and closing costs. Guess that makes him one of the lucky ones. The bank involved in that short sale under contract is taking a $100,000+ hit.
Here in Marin County, just to the north of San Francisco, sales are definitely slower in my neighborhood. Neighbor’s house just went on the market for $100K less than they paid for it in 2004. Add to that 6% in selling expenses and 7 years of mortgage, property taxes, maintenance, insurance. Ouch. We’ll see if they get their asking price or end up taking a bigger haircut.
Biggest difference is no one is talking about real estate anymore. Rarely comes up in conversation. A young couple in my office looked at houses here, decided to stay in their rental, which is nicer and less money even with the mortgage interest deduction. That’s the thinking that went out the window during the bubble.
thanks for Marin the update Lisa… I’m seeing more and more bank owned homes and foreclosures coming back on the market in Novato… sooooo much price shenanigans by the real estate mafia, though… its amazing…
from the prices, I say we have another 20% to go in Novato, anyhow… despite all the denial …
kmo722 - I’m in San Anselmo, and anyone who bought 2004 or after is losing money.. and I mean six figures losing money. Either that or they can’t sell at all, even when the house is priced under what it last sold for.
Trade up market here is DOA. Lots of young couples / families stuck in $750K 2 bedroom cottages, so of course now they can’t sell and get into a larger home when baby #2 arrives.
It’s gone very, very quiet here. From homeownership as the all-time smartest move to dead silence.
“I’m in San Anselmo, and anyone who bought 2004 or after is losing money.. and I mean six figures losing money.”
I know a guy who is $20k upside down on a $185k place, and he is ready to mail the keys; I see that as a three year hit, and not worth ruining your credit. However, $100k+ (six figures) upside down is the coup de grâce for a wage earner.
That lying bastard of a realtor who sent me a cutsheet for a short sale stating, “it’s a STEAL!! You can make money on this one, it’s gonna go fast”……. well that was back in late March and it’s still listed.
Ah yes, but from the realtor’s perspective, Its still a steal… its your money who he or she was trying to steal to close the deal…
Yes. It’s a steal…. if he could only get me to strike.
Realtors are rotting, corrupt predators.
“it’s a STEAL!!”
At least the Realtor gave you fair warning of his intentions.
Went on a drive yesterday into some of the outer burbs. I came to the conclusion that nobody has built a small single family home in ~20 years. It’s all condos and townhomes, with the occasional development of McBoxes.
I could probably live in a townhome, but what scares me is that attached product is generally run by HOA’s, and I want nothing to do with HOA’s.
It would be best to avoid anything built in the last decade anyway, from what I have seen being built.
Land still grotesquely overpriced in the entire western US. 5 acres of raw land is oftentimes priced the same as 5 acres with a home on it.
When Zillow first arrived, it seemed like 2/3rds of participants on this blog said it didn’t have a chance. I was in the 1/3 of participants who hoped it could be a viable competitor against the NAR’s MLS.
Since then, my property has been valued up to the high $900,000 range and currently is valued in the mid $300,000 range. Neither is or was correct. However, I appreciate the attempt and images. Do you??
Hate it ? Love it ? Improved ? Clueless ?
test
Empty listings:
http://cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=S252948
http://cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=S252764
http://cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=S253083
Seeing more and more of these on the MLS. Also seeing more listings id’d as bank owned by the realtor. Also feels like an increasing amount of divorce stories are behind some of these sales.
Remember just a few short years ago when the usual back story was a promotion?