Oh, Pretty Woman!
In the movie of the same name, there is a scene where Julia Roberts goes to a store on Rodeo Drive, and she has all this cash, but they won’t sell her a dress.
Have you tried to buy an REO lately? You would think the banks DON’T need the money.
Another question I hear is, “Are we there yet?” … meaning the muddy bottom.
The answer is, we may as well be. The market seems to bid UP any property perceived as priced too low. But, having said that, the market (ie, median price of closed SFR units), perhaps seasonally, has slid a dollar or two lower than last month.
The median price of single family units closed is $102/sq ft halfway through this month.
Listings are up 300 units over 2 weeks ago to 15,393 by my count. 44% of these, not counting Short Sales (make the sign of the cross and run!), are under $150/sq ft – up 2% from 2 weeks ago.
32% of the total Single Family listings are bank owned, but 4718 (70%) of listings under $150/sq ft are bank owned! There are about 4800 REO’s on the market, so the banks have most of them priced right.
As I may have mentioned, if real estate was a desert, short sales would be the mirage.
There are 4600 short sales below $150/sq ft. So, if you want to waste a lot of time chasing heart ache and frustration, be my guest. Realtors should charge by the hour, pay as you go, on short sales. That would reduce a lot of that foolishness, but I digress.
Pending contracts have fallen a couple hundred units every two weeks since the high of 6466 on September 15. We stand at 5517 today, and that puts us within reach of 2500 sales for November, BUT we have Thanksgiving looming. Still, for this time of year, pendings are strong, so we may stay close to the record levels of the boom years.
In conclusion, the broken record rolls along. The numbers of affordable properties slowly edge upwards. Closing and pending numbers remain strong allowing for the seasonal adjustment.
We have a lot of first time buyers using FHA and second home buyers, and some people with cash or good credit just taking advantage of the prices.
What will happen to prices as foreclosures dry up? Citibank has announced a moratorium on foreclosures and offered the olive branch to borrowers who are current! What will happen as -or if – other institutions follow suit? What if this is part of helping “main street?”
WHEN the banks start lending again, and IF foreclosure numbers decline, then, given affordable prices and the promise of jobs in Las Vegas AND already strong demand AND no new home construction, where do prices go?
The doom and gloomers say it will take years. These are the same guys who two years ago couldn’t spell even Obama. Never say it can’t happen here.
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