Uptick . . .

[Russ H]

I got a surprise tonight.

I haven't been looking at the RE listings in our area on a regular (ie, daily) basis for about a year.

Last year, there were few listings (most folks were holding tight), and NOTHING was in escrow/contingent-- everything was active (and stayed that way, for weeks and weeks).

Tonight, I scanned through the RE listings for our town (Napa, CA).

I found lots of homes listed cheaply-- starting at $155K for a SFH, and TONS of places under $300K.

Contrast this to 2-3 years ago, when the cheapest houses in Napa were $350K.

But that wasn't my shock.

The surprise was-- as I clicked on listing after listing, ALL of them were contingent.

No, not the nasty condos in crappy parts of town.

But literally, EVERY SFH I clicked on was in escrow ("contingent").

I mean DOZENS (50?)-- when last year's sales numbers were like 6 houses sold in a month.

This is the strongest RE sales market I've seen since 2006.

Is it an "uptick"?

Not from a value standpoint-- these homes are selling for a LOT less than they were 3 years ago.

But--from an actual SALES standpoint-- sales are increasing.

A LOT.

Not so for higher priced homes-- they're still sitting on the market.

But it's nice to see that banks are lending again-- even if it's for really, really cheap houses!

-Russ H.

PS I'm going to call my team members (title person, mortgage broker) and see what they think. Could be the beginning of the turnaround.

 

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[bflash98]

From what I have been told by real estate agents their was a big rush of buyers going under contract by the April 30th deadline to qualify for the $8k tax credit. These houses have to close by June 30th to qualify for the tax credit.

 

[andviv]

From what I have been told by real estate agents their was a big rush of buyers going under contract by the April 30th deadline to qualify for the $8k tax credit. These houses have to close by June 30th to qualify for the tax credit.

:iagree:

Same happening over here... people locked the contracts to qualify for the credit...

Can you look and see if there are many new listings from the last month, that are also under contract? Based on what the agents I've talked to, that is a dead market for now over here.

New construction has picked up a little bit though... not sure I understand why.

 

[Russ H]

:iagree:

Same happening over here... people locked the contracts to qualify for the credit...

Can you look and see if there are many new listings from the last month, that are also under contract? Based on what the agents I've talked to, that is a dead market for now over here.

I know one for sure that went into escrow just a few days ago. It was originally listed at $395K, then $349K, then they dropped it to $200K just a few weeks later-- it was gone within days. It doesn't even show as contingent--so I'm guessing they got an as is offer, w/no contingencies.

Interesting, tho-- if what you say is true, we may see some of these props resurface after June 30, if the buyers couldn't get loans.

-Russ H.

 

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[andviv]

yeah, that is what many people are expecting... loans could easily get in trouble these days, and the buyer loses the motivation to buy w/o the tax credit.

At that point the sellers have to either reduce the price to match the tax credit (if I were the seller, I'd probably do that), or lose the buyer. I am not sure how much are buyers putting for escrow though...

 

[Russ H]

... loans could easily get in trouble these days, and the buyer loses the motivation to buy w/o the tax credit.

At that point the sellers have to either reduce the price to match the tax credit (if I were the seller, I'd probably do that), or lose the buyer.

Great point. I could see the realtor even kicking in some of their commish (that's what happened when we were at a stalemate on the sale of one of my props, years ago). Tho w/a $200K house, there's only $12K total in comish, so I could see them asking the seller to go $5K if they pitch in $3K, or something like that.

-Russ H.

 

[hatterasguy]

I beleive things are starting to get a bit better. At least on my side of the country I'm seeing a ton of activity. Prices havn't changed, but if the property is priced right it will sell.

 

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