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Atlanta Real Estate Update

April 26th, 2010 · Real Estate Markets

The Atlanta real estate market is still suffering serious damage from the continuing effects of the economic downturn, although the low

City of Atlanta
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cost of doing business in the Empire State of the South may soon boost interest in commercial real estate. According to an April 2, 2010 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Good job news flowed from Washington to suburban Atlanta on Good Friday. The Labor Department reported that in March the economy added the most new jobs in three years…Optimism has been especially hard to come by in hard-hit suburbs. The recession sundered white-collar, middle-class communities in Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and DeKalb Counties. The real estate industry, and its construction, landscaping, accounting and legal bedfellows, continues to suffer. Corporations in Alpharetta, Duluth, and Kennesaw laid off thousands.”

The especially hard hit Atlanta real estate market may begin looking up, although the particular effect on Atlanta homes for sale remains ambiguous. The same article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, written by Dan Chapman, continued to state that “Of course not all of the economic pain, including a 36 percent increase in suburban food stamp recipients last year, falls on the shoulders of the region’s white-collar workers. Atlanta’s sprawl created thousands of blue-collar jobs, too, particularly in the moribund real estate industry. The housing bust has wiped many of them out.” Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, said that “The recession has hit hardest those geographic areas that have seen the most new development. So the recession has been harder on the suburban fringe than the city centers.”

A March 30, 2010 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found some upbeat

news for commercial Atlanta real estate for sale, stating that “Atlanta is the second cheapest major U.S. city in which to do business, according to a study released Tuesday by KPMG…KPMB’s 2010 Competitive Alternatives study measures 26 cost factors – labor, taxes, real estate, utilities and more – over a 10-year period. Atlanta gets high marks for its cheap rents, wages, employee benefits, transportation costs and favorable corporate tax rate.”

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Carmel Real Estate

March 20th, 2010 · Home Equity Loans, In The News, Real Estate Markets

Commonly recognized as one of the more affluent suburbs of the capital city of Indianapolis, Carmel, Indiana, lies in Hamilton County, just northeast of the city. Home prices in the area had risen exponentially in recent years as larger and more elaborate homes were constructed in a building frenzy catering to the high demand for Carmel homes for sale in the area. This community, with the highest median household income of any city in the state, however, when the financial crisis attacked the U.S. economy, bringing down the housing market with it, Carmel found itself burdened by the aftershocks.

Hamilton County administration building IMG_7004
Image by OZinOH via Flickr

In January 2010, according to the Indianapolis Star, sales were down 21.7 percent in Hamilton County, more than Indianapolis’s 18% and more than the state’s average of just over 1%.   According to the Carmel Real Estate Guide, that figure floated back up a bit in the month of February within Carmel, where there were 54 closed sales for the month, down by just one from February 2009’s 55 and up from 52 sales in the previous month of January. Of these 54 sales in Carmel in February, two were for homes priced at over $1 million, 10 were priced between $500,000 and $1 million, and the rest were for less than $500,000.

Homes for sale on the Carmel real estate market in February spent an average of 117 days on the market before selling, up from an average of 98.1 days in January, and the average price was just over $360,800, down from over $392,000 the previous month. In the beginning of March, there were 13 foreclosed homes up for sale on the market. Looking back at 2009, the average sales price in Hamilton County was just over $229,000, down by 6.7% from 2008, according to FC Tucker, an area realtor.  Listings in December 2009 in Hamilton County were down 12.5% from a year earlier, a sign showing that some of the excess inventory may be beginning to clear out.

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Scottsdale real estate market update

March 1st, 2010 · In The News, Real Estate, Real Estate Markets

scottsdale

Scottsdale, a relatively large city located directly adjacent to the larger metropolitan center of Phoenix, continues to face a foreclosure-driven buyer’s market in the first quarter of two thousand ten. According to a February 11, 2010 article in the Phoenix Business Journal, “Close to half of the existing home sales in the Phoenix metro area last month were foreclosed properties exhibiting continued struggles in the housing market, according to an Arizona University report released Thursday.” The article, composed by Mike Sunnucks, noted that “The report also said that two out of three home sales in the Valley in January were either foreclosures or re-sales of foreclosed homes.” Arizona State University economist Jay Butler noted that “Even in response to hiatus and mortgage modification programs, foreclosure activity did not slow. It takes some time to finish recording transactions, though, so some slowing might still be evident in the next few months.”

cactus_1234062916680A January 28, 2010 article published by KTAR News mentioned a positive note for Scottsdale homes for sale, however, as foreclosures in the Valley have started to decline somewhat. The piece, written by Jeremy Foster,  found that “While Valley cities have more foreclosures than most other cities across the country, there may be reason for optimism.” The article also quoted Daren Blumquist of RealtyTrac, who said that “From the third quarter to the fourth quarter, we actually saw a 10 percent decrease in foreclosure activity in the Phoenix metro area…The jobless rate is expected to remain high for much of 2010, so that is one factor. And then, there are a lot of people who are delinquent on their home loans.”

Unfortunately, property values have also been declining in Maricopa County and for Scottsdale real estate for three straight years, according to an article written by Catherine Reagor in the Arizona Republic. The piece, published on February 12, 2010, noted that “Maricopa County homeowners will begin to receive their latest property valuations in the mail today. Most will see a third straight annual drop in home values. Residential property values fell an average of 15.2 percent in 2009, according to the latest report from the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.”

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St Louis Real Estate Update

February 1st, 2010 · In The News, Real Estate, Real Estate Markets

StLousThe 11-county St. Louis real estate areas achieved more than 29,000 closed residential real estate sales transactions for previously occupied homes in 2009, according to real estate statistics and data compiled by the St Louis Association of Realtors and the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Real estate sales in the market were boosted by a surge in activity in the fall of 2009, primarily driven by two factors – historically low interest rates and the $8,000 tax credit which was available to first-time homebuyers.

The Saint Louis area has been hard by the recession of 2008, however, recently, signs of recovery are being reported by real estate agents and economists in the region.

The luxury home market – above $800K – continues to be completely dead with significant discounting by sellers looking to attract prospective homebuyers who are only interested in “bargain” priced properties.  A recent article on the luxury home market in St Louis discusses the difficult challenges for home sellers.  Although median housing prices are well below previous years’ levels, the market is showing signs of recovery at lower price points with sales levels in 2009 exceeding the same period in 2008.

According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch, signs of life are returning to the Saint Louis real estate market – and now may be a great time to purchase with the home buyer tax credits and low interest rates. As Saint Louis homes for sale throughout the Saint Louis Metro improve, area realtors note that the majority of these gains are in the lower price ranges, generally for housing at $300,000 or less. Houses in the area that are selling for less than $125,000 have recently seen bidding wars and several have sold for more than list price.

However, median prices for homes in the area continue to remain below the same period last year with one exception – the City of St Louis – which showed a healthy 6.6% gain. The median price of St. Louis metro homes as of October 2009 was $141,000, which was a decrease of 1.3 percent from the preceding quarter..

The St Louis Business Journal reported that many purchasers of condos are opting to purchase existing projects in the region.  The inability of proposed Saint Louis condo projects to be built and delivered is reviving sales at existing condo properties.  Although the residential real estate in Miami is improving, many experts believe that the region is still a ways away from a full recovery of the St Louis as reported by Kevin Cottrell at St Louis real estate today.

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San Bruno Real Estate Market

January 27th, 2010 · Real Estate Markets

A suburban police station in San Bruno, Calif...
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A higher-priced market near California’s coastal area, the market for real estate in San Bruno, like in many cities across the Golden state, has continued to struggle throughout this year as it reaches for a bottom. Prices and values have fallen, and even sales volume is down in San Bruno, a contrast to many other markets nationwide that have seen volume helped along by government incentives.  However, as we near the end of the year, the market shows that perhaps it has hit its bottom and is making its way back up, as some indications give signs for relief.

According to local realtor Barbara Chang, the median price of homes sold in San Bruno in November was $575,000, up by 17.3% from October figures and down by just 3.3% year-over-year (a small drop considering many of the year-over-year changes in the area). Average prices, too, saw positive signs in November, with the average price for homes for sale in San Bruno at $596,636, up 15.9% from October and even up 8.6% from the previous year.

There were, however, just 11 sales in November, down from 16 in October and that same figure, 16, in November of last year. The small number of sales also means that San Bruno real estate figures can fluctuate wildly from month to month if there are a couple of high-priced sales, so figure should be closely examined in the coming months to see whether the market is really on its way back up.

Unlike many surrounding areas, San Bruno also saw an increase, rather than a decrease, in the average time for homes to spend on the market, which stood in November at 44, up from 33 in October and up 6.3% year-over-year. Condo sales declined 10.8% month-over-month, but were up 46.8% from the previous year and up 3.7% in 2009.

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Sacramento real estate market update

January 22nd, 2010 · Real Estate, Real Estate Markets

Like many other cities, particularly highly populated ones in California, Sacramento’s real estate market suffered in 2008 and 2009 as the effects of the U.S. recession, financial crisis and housing market bubble burst began to set in. Since the declines began, however, the city has seen light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Values that plummeted are now slowly edging their way back up, and inventory is starting to slide back down as more homes clear the market and fewer are put up for sale.

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According to the statistics compiled and published by the Sacramento Association of Realtors, December 2009 showed some positive monthly signs, even if the market is not out of the woods yet. In December, there were more than 1,600 homes sold, which is actually a decline of 14.7% from the same month in 2008, when nearly 2,000 were sold. Sacramento homes in December 2009 had a median sales value of $187,500, up a slight 0.3% from November’s figures and up 4.2% from December 2008, showing that it may take a long creeping of increases for values to reach levels of old. The largest portion of the homes sold in December were in the $200,000 to $249,999 bracket, followed by the next highest bracket, $250,000 to $299,999.

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For condos, the largest portion sold were in the $120,000 to $139,999 range. The Sacramento real estate market of condos continued to show signs of weathering the storm. There were 114 condos closed on in December, a decrease in volume of 8.1% over 2008. The median price was $100,001, up by 7.5% from December 2008’s median sales price of $93,000. The average price remained nearly constant from 2008 at $125,387, down less than $200. Most of the condo sales, nearly 46%, were of condos repossessed and resold by the lenders.

For all of 2009, there were 20,910 closed escrows on homes, a slight increase of 1.6% from 2008, when 20,587 homes changed hands. Though more homes were sold, however, the total dollar value for those sold homes actually declined 13.3%, showing that many of the homes that were sold this year were done so at a lower price. For the whole of the year, the median sales price was $180,000, 16.3% lower than the median price of $215,000 in 2008.

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San Jose Real estate market update

January 20th, 2010 · Real Estate, Real Estate Markets

Like many high-priced real estate areas, the San Jose region has seen its housing market tank over the past few years as the housing market crash sunk home values and left many underwater on the mortgages or in foreclosure. Though the market has yet to fully recover and is still quite far from where it was at its peak, the San Jose real estate market did show signs of improvement in 2009, signs that perhaps it has made it through the worst and is now in recovery mode.

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In December 2009, according to statistics compiled by the Santa Clara County Real Estate Association, the most recent month for which statistics are available, the San Jose real estate market saw improvement in all areas except for the average number of days a home spends on the market, which was up slightly, year-over-year, at 65 from 58. New listings were down in December 2009 from 2008, from 684 to 578. Inventory had cleared out significantly, falling by nearly half to 1474 from nearly 3000 in 2008. Much of the activity in sales can be attributed to the government’s incentive in 2009 to give qualified first-time buyers rebates of up to $8,000 for buying homes.

Prices showed positive trends as well, an encouraging sign, as many markets across the U.S. are still witnessing further falling prices. Real estate in San Jose, in December, the average price was at $548,600, up from about $529,600 from last year at the same time, a modest rise of about 4%. Median prices, likewise, saw a bump as well: In December 2009, the median price for a San Jose home sold stood at $490,000, up by about 8.5% from December 2008’s $451,750.

Sales volume in 2009 was high, with more than 7,000 homes being sold, in contrast to pre-crash sales volume in 2007 of about 4,000 homes sold. Of course, prices still remain far off from some of their highs. In 2007, when average home values were in the $800,000 range and median prices were in the $750,000 range. Whether home prices will rise to those levels again in the near future remains to be seen and is anyone’s guess.
www.sccaor.com/144.0.html

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Springfield Real Estate Market

January 20th, 2010 · Real Estate Markets

A photograph of the Springfield Capitol Buildi...
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As the state’s capital, Springfield, Illinois, has not been able to shield itself from the immune effects of the sour national housing market. Like most larger markets nationwide, the city has seen its economy suffer, resulting in a rise in foreclosures and a decrease in home values. Unemployment is up, though things do seem to be improving toward the end of this year.

Greene County, in which the city is located, saw prices fall further in the third quarter of 2009 from the second quarter. Average prices for sold Springfield real estate stood in the third quarter at $134,900, down from $145,800 in the second quarter, according to the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors. However, the drop in prices must be viewed in context, as many of the homes may have been foreclosed homes being cleared off the market at lowered prices.

The inventory of homes for sale in Springfield in the third quarter remained virtually unchanged from the year’s second quarter, up by a single home. Meanwhile, sales volume continued to climb, reaching 991 in the quarter, up from 965 in the previous one. Sales volume was no doubt helped out by home buyers hoping to take advantage of the government’s plan to offer tax rebates of up to $8,000 to qualified first-time home buyers.

The number of new homes being built has been drastically reduced throughout the crisis, as the market for new real estate in Springfield deteriorates. In the second quarter there were 178 newly built homes on the market. During the first two months of the third quarter, there were just 86 new homes brought to the market. Additionally, the number of days homes are spending on the market is falling as well, down to just 61 from 67.

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Palos Verdes Market Report

January 13th, 2010 · Real Estate Markets

Point Vicente Light on the Palos Verdes Penins...
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The market for real estate in Palos Verdes has suffered significantly since the financial crisis began in the U.S. and then spread to countries across the globe. Like so many cities across the country, the city has seen its home values plummet, a rise in foreclosures and a spike in inventory stuck on the market. But the market as of late is showing signs of stabilization, giving real estate investors a cause for cautious optimism in the coming months.

First, sales volume has been increasing over this year, particularly as many home buyers are encouraged to enter a market they might have otherwise sat out on because of the government’s plan to offer thousands of dollars in tax rebates for home buyers. In October, there were 66 homes sold and 76 sales pending, double the figure from October of 2008, though down just slightly from August’s yearly high of 76.

The average price for houses and condos sold in October was $1.14 million, working out to $471 per square foot, up from just $452 per square foot in October of last year. The median price was $1.0 million, up from $962,000 in October of last year, but down slightly from higher figures in May of this year. Though just experiencing slight increases, these signs point that the Palos Verdes real estate market is headed back in the right direction.

Meanwhile, inventory in this high-priced neighborhood is down as well. There were 292 homes for sale in Palos Verdes in late November, the lowest figure in nearly a year and a half, accounting for just a 4.4-month supply. October featured an unlikely spike back up in the average number of days homes are spending on the market, up to 110 days from figures in the 70s over the past four months.

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Atlanta Real Estate Market

January 10th, 2010 · Real Estate Markets

City of Atlanta
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The center of the South’s commercial and financial industry, Atlanta, Georgia, in recent years had seen average home prices rising with no end in sight. However, of course, the end was in sight and it came with the onset of the U.S. financial crisis that triggered the bursting in the nation’s housing bubble.

Prices have been falling over the year and seem to be near bottoming out, but current figures illustrate that that real estate in Atlanta is not quite out of the bind yet. Early December figures showed the median listing price at $193,900, down 2.6% from November and down 5.3% from last year.

During the third quarter, homes for sale in Atlanta were seen to be spending more time on the market in all but one category: homes for sale under $200,000. The median number of days on the market overall was 149, up by 19 days from figures from the third quarter of last year.

The median sales price has continued to see declines as well. In the third quarter it was $176,00, down from $190,000 in 2008 and $225,000 in 2007, though up slightly from the second quarter’s figure of $168,000. Year-to-date, the median sales price for Atlanta real estate is $167,000, down from 2008’s year-to-date figure of $200,000. Sales volume has been up, at 9,132 in the third quarter, up from just 9,000 in the second quarter and less than 6,500 in the first quarter.

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