Local Market Observations
What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Statistics? “In York County, distressed properties — those in some stage of default or foreclosure or being sold under pressure at below market value — are 30 percent of sales, said Marty Sowa, president of the Realtors Association of York and Adams Counties Inc. House prices will continue to fall nationally, but it’s not clear if they will do so in Central Pennsylvania, said Austin Jaffe, chairman of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate and associate director of the Institute for Real Estate Studies at the Penn State Smeal College of Business.”
“The recent Case-Shiller numbers were worse than many analysts expected, Jaffe said. ‘If next month is bad news, this will be a more serious double dip than people thought,’ he said.”
“The national real estate market won’t recover until unemployment comes down and health returns to the economy generally, and ‘that doesn’t seem to be on the horizon,’ he said. ‘We can’t look to our housing industry for employment opportunities. In fact, it’s the contrary,’ he said.”
Condo reversions? “A luxury condominium development in Ruston that failed to attract buyers with its pricetags of $900,000 to $1.4 million, may soon find new life as a high-end apartment project. The building, which overlooks the former Asarco smelter site and the bay, was never finished. The developer tried to stir interest in the property by offering a unit as first prize in a fund-raising raffle sponsored by the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. That arrangement collapsed, however, when raffle sales fell short of projections and the building completion stalled.”
Or foreclosures? “The riverfront home of Jeffrey A. Martinovich, the CEO of shuttered financial services firm MICG Investment Management, is in foreclosure and will be offered at a public auction in front of the Newport News Circuit Court building on June 27. The 7,900-square-foot home on Riverside Drive was on the market for nearly a year with an asking price of $2.6 million.”
“Featuring soaring ceilings, six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and four fireplaces, the home was featured in 2006 during Historic Garden Week in Virginia. According to court records, Martinovich has not made a mortgage payment on the home since April 2010, around the same time his firm, MICG Investment Management, neared collapse.”
“He owes more than $2 million on the home to HSBC Bank USA, according to a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The court also lifted stays on two other Martinovich-owned properties, a rental home in Newport News and a beachfront mansion in theOuter Banks.”
“Martinovich hasn’t lived in the Riverside Drive home for more than two years, according to public records.”
I see the price and inventory being manipulated right out in the open. I liken it to filling a tank with a funnel. You pour until the top of the funnel fills and stop until it drains, then you pour again. Repeat until that big jug of foreclosures is empty.
Inventory of South Florida homes for sale falls, as buyers zero in on Palm Beach County
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 4:39 p.m. Thursday, June 16, 2011
About 49,900 residential properties in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties were listed for resale as of June 13, according to a report today from the Miami-based consultancy group Condo Vultures.
That’s less than half of the nearly 108,000 homes for sale in November 2008.
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Repossessions in Palm Beach County up sharply from last year
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:19 a.m. Thursday, June 16, 2011
CEO of RealtyTrac. “This pattern provides evidence that lenders are somewhat unevenly pushing batches of bad loans through foreclosure as they overhaul their paperwork and procedures and as they determine that some local markets are able to absorb more foreclosure inventory.”
One of the neighborhoods I watch is a well-maintained early 20th century area near downtown (we live in non-trendy Central Texas). There’s an enormous spread in prices, as well as in size of house and location, from $96k to $830k. $100 per square foot is top dollar in our area (although some try to get more). Anyway, the prices mostly breakly down into three tight groups: $170-$180k, $260-270k, and $420-430k. Up until now, the best populated price range was the $200s. The big change is that now, that honor has moved to the $170s/$180s. For a while, there were 4 houses at $180k, but just a few days ago, a 2275 square foot house that had been $180k got cut down to $170k. One of the houses currently at $180k started its life on the market at $272k before going into foreclosure three years later. Even as a foreclosure, this is its third price–it started at $205, dropped to $195k, then dropped again to $180k. With so many houses bunched together at the same price and not selling, this has the makings of a bloodbath. Meanwhile, the $400k and higher houses just sit. Several listings have disappeared, but I expect them to see them again in the fall.
From my observations, it’s almost as if the price per square foot doesn’t really matter as much as the price itself, or that there’s starting to be a pretty large discount for larger homes. It’s disappeared from the market, but there was an older 4800 square foot house in that neighborhood that eventually got cut down to $250k. On a per square foot basis, in this neighborhood, that’s absolutely brutal. Meanwhile, somebody listed a 1700 square foot house in this neighborhood for $160 something last fall and sold it very fast. I also know that a 2300 sq. ft. house in a quiet location that was listed at $260k has sold. I know the new owners, and they’re keeping the price quiet, but given their previous 50% offer to another homeseller, I expect they’ve done very well.
I’m sure that folks are discovering the dirty little secret of mondo sized houses, especially once they get in the 10 year old range– utility costs and maintenance. My modest 10 year old home was just repainted for $2,100. I’m sure that could easily jump to $10,000 plus for a McMansion. We’ve already had to replace all the developer grade fixtures, including garbage disposal, kitchen/bathroom faucets, toilet innards & seats, the front-door latch, etc. Not by choice, they corroded and/or fell apart. Multiply that by 3 times the square footage/rooms and it would be a nightmare.
Footnote– just learned that in the City of SD code enforcement calculates the allowable number of people in a home by the square footage, so some of these McMansions could legally house over 19 people. boarding house, anyone?
Yup salad…Ive been saying that all year we have no choice boarding house, bed and breakfast, half way houses for retarded or ex cons….or how about a big extended family
or worse section 8 for the breeding types.
Walled communities might make it easier to have a police substation to control crime
Hi I have retarded sibling. In the last year or two there is moverment away from the word. Not sure of the PC replacement. No sure why retarded is supposed to be offensive. Why are people overly sensitive?
Have you priced drapes for those great rooms with the 20 foot ceilings?
My modest 10 year old home was just repainted for $2,100. I’m sure that could easily jump to $10,000 plus for a McMansion.
I have a nice ranch. I am painting it myself this summer. So far I am about 40% done (not bad for only working weekends). Bought the best paint, best caulk and the best brushes. Total cost - about $250.
But when you add in what $500 -700 maybe $1K a month in heating/ AC costs the price seems more reasonable..
How much a month?
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On a per square foot basis, in this neighborhood, that’s absolutely brutal.
http://tinyurl.com/4xcfws3
This place is hung up in 4 close-yer limbo for over a year even though it’s on MLS, it can’t be bought or sold. I could get it for 180k, but it’s only worth about 110-120 as far as I can tell.
RAL, that looks pretty. That area is in deep doldrums, as you well know. So I think your price is more like it. If things keep going down, and you are living in that house, you will be one of the “haves”, and highly visible on that hummock.
OTOH, you do have a clear line of sight, and plenty of room to take in the relatives to help out.
Sheesh! Who is going to pay that price for a house in that area? Noo-Yawkahs?
The dump is about 10 min from my old place and parents in Pawlet, VT and it’s economically trashed for sure. Make no mistake, when you live there, there are no “haves’. Look at the taxes. Absolutely crushing compared to the local wages and thats if you can find a job.
Jeez…. only a native would consider going back there…. ha!
$5,700 in taxes for a house 1 hour NORTH of Albany selling for $250K?
Gawd - I just NY public unions…
Mowing that yard would send me to an early grave.
lmao…. yea my sentiment exactly. It’s not ideal for what I’m thinking. I need some space to put up a pole barn to store heavy equipment, etc.
Why would somebody need 2600 sq ft for 3 bedrooms? You can comfortably fit 3/1 in 1000 sq ft and 3/2.5 in 1300 sq ft. Where is that sq footage going to? It’s not in the kitchen. In fact, it surprises me that they re-did the granite and stainless steel without expanding the kitchen.
And who’s going to shovel that driveway…
Oxy,
It’s a walk out basement. the master bedroom is on the first and the floorplan is nearly perfect and actually quite small which is what suits us. The basement would be the domain of Little Miss RAL. Driveway? you push it down the hill with a plow.
One more thing–the foreclosure that went from $272k to its current price of $180k is 2700 square feet, so the original price wasn’t totally crazy.
This dump was the one I’ve mentioned where the lying realtor stated, “this one you can make money on, it’s a steal”. That was 3months ago and come to find out it’s been on the market since May 2010. Waaaaay too much gingerbread, it’s 2 story(not a good idea), it’s in a development(we’re not development people) but at the right price it’s a maybe.
http://tinyurl.com/3r42yyo
I’d hope they would remove all the yucky 250 year old-looking furnishings and sell without that crap if I was the buyer. I am no fan of living in the past! I hate antiques or things resembling such.
No doubt. You’ll see this faux wealthy elite crapola in New England. It’s quite silly and snobbish.
I admit I don’t like that large dresser either, but well-made is well-made, antique or no.
As for faux “distressed,” ick.
In Germany most of the apartments are four walls, i.e., no closets, so this sort of thing is common.
And for the equivalent cost, your alternative in lovely Montgomery County, Maryland, outside DC:
http://tinyurl.com/3kuuz8h
Speaking of Montgomery County, here are some pix of the Aurora Hills development. They say it’s “minutes” from major highways… more like 15 minute drive to congested I-270. They basically bulldozed up a few fields and packed houses as close as they possibly could. Same pricing ranges…
Pix are here:
http://www.arorahills.com/gallery.html
At least they thought about a swimming pool with lap lanes. Fitness isn’t even an after-thought in these little towns in eastern WA. Well, they do like baseball. We checked out a minor league game for a while. A teenager near us chugged-down 3 x 20oz Cokes; mom kept handing over fresh cold bottles. Holy $h!t, talk about sugar!
pix here: http://www.arorahills.com/gallery.html
RAL, your target requirements include a pole barn for heavy equipment, and not in a development. That’s two strikes against this shack. One that it’s in a development. The other is that it does not give you the flexibility you need to keep the tools of your trade close at hand. In an slow decline, if your equipment is not within a clear line of sight, it WILL get trashed, stolen, the gas/diesel siphoned off, and generally maliciously treated. Just been my observation.
I was in Rochester when the signs appeared that Kodak /Xerox /B&L were on their way down. Even back in those innocent times, people were shifting the edges between “mine” and “thine”. It’s a different kettle of fish now.
$6,704/year in taxes 1 hour NORTH of Albany
Gawd - I just LUV New York public unions…
For once, I agree with you. $6700/yr in property taxes requires income of about $10,000/yr. Considering the average annual wage around that area is about $22k/yr, the odds of thriving are ZERO.
Seeing more properties, including high end ones come onto the market out here in Hawaii, but everything is still 30-50% too high. (Clueless) People are buying the low end (<300K) for ~20% off list but the high end have to be marked down much more to sell - I see ~40% off when they do. Land is still priced for fantasy for the most part.
Another thing I see is auction dot com having auctions 2x a month and bids are usually 50% off the last (bubble) sale, but the reserves aren’t met so the places get put up for auction again over and over, where the bids are roughly the same. Pretty lame.
The state just passed a new law similar to one in Nevada that provides some more delay for fb’s to try and renegotiate their loans but in the case of Nevada only about 5% work out. Requires judicial foreclosure so courts will be swamped and no money was allocated to handle that. It also allows for the lender to pursue a deficiency judgement so its seems honest fb’s (of which there are few) might get help, all others will get an extra two months free rent and then get the screws put to them. Fannie Mae went ahead and foreclosed on lots of fb’s ahead of the law’s enaction which is hilarous.
Still years from a bottom in RE.
Another thing I see is auction dot com having auctions 2x a month and bids are usually 50% off the last (bubble) sale, but the reserves aren’t met so the places get put up for auction again over and over, where the bids are roughly the same. Pretty lame.
This outfit is trying to auction off a property in my nabe. Before they got ahold of it, the place had been on the resale market for a year. And it was sporting a NOTS before that happened.
ISTR that this place was last occupied back in 2009. Which means that the ultimate buyer will have quite the repair/maintenance adventure.
Oh, did I mention that this property is smack-dab in the crosshairs of Tucson’s Grant Road widening project? And that, in this part of town, construction is slated to start in 2013?
Dart, where are you in Hawaii?
Kauai. I follow a little of the other islands - big island, maui, oahu in order of interest.
That’s pretty much what I’m seeing in east Honolulu. Lots of new properties came on the market in the last couple of weeks. Most of them are higher end and priced way above where they should be. My neighborhood had around 6-8 properties on the market this spring. Now we’re up to 12, no sales, just one in escrow.
I’ve been eyeballing some statistics from Redfin dot com this morning for single family homes in our zip code (92127 — Rancho Bernardo West, San Diego). Redfin shows a total of 211 single family homes for our zip code, of which 42 are indicated as “Foreclosed Home” with no list price shown, presumably because these are not on the MLS. I’m half curious whether there is a process to purchase one of these foreclosure homes through Redfin, though not seriously interested enough to want to risk attracting used home salespeople’s attention through an inquiry. 212 homes listed is comparable to the numbers that have shown up on Redfin and ZipRealty over the past several years.
For the first time I have noticed, of the 179 single family homes showing list prices, the median list price has dipped below $600K (now at $599,990). This is quite a drop from the median list price of $1,395,000 that the MLS used to show for our zip code back in 2006. Part of this is due to the fact that the high-end stuff is simply not showing up for sale anymore; it’s as though the high-end owners have thrown in the towel on their efforts to sell.
Here you go, Ex. These are each one example of the hood we’re targeting and why:
Redington Beach, FL
(+) Small, quiet beach town with A schools (-) Pricey and you gotta have flood ins.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/16200-2nd-St-E-Redington-Beach-FL-33708/46987480_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-address}
Palm Harbor, FL
(+) Awesome schools and more lot space (-) far from family and jobs
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/770-Village-Way-Palm-Harbor-FL-34683/47279237_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-address}
Seminole, FL
(+) close to beaches, family and jobs (-) None really
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14160-82nd-Ter-Seminole-FL-33776/47224699_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-address}
That first one - without knowing about the location - does not seem to be as good as the second one - Palm Harbor. But the third one somehow seems more appealing. Some FB bought it for $420,000 in 2006.
Without knowing FL, they seem priced very high for structures so old.