Baltimore a Seller's Market? (Mount Vernon: credit, real estate, foreclosures)

[helenejen]

Any reactions to Baltimore being listed by Yahoo as one of the top 10 seller's markets? (See the sidebar in the article.) America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets - Yahoo! Real Estate

I bought a rowhouse last May just north of Patterson Park in the zip code 21224. I'm pretty fanatical about checking the realty sites to see what has gone on the market and for how much ever since I started looking in January 07. Since last fall, there have consistently been well under 200 homes in the price range 225,000-300,000 on the market in 21224, compared to the well over 200 when I started looking. In fact, last year at this time when I put an offer in on my current home, there were 257 houses on the market in this zip code and price range and today there are 195, with 21 of those being listed in the last week, which might be a bad sign.

And according to the comprehensive number crunching by the Sun a few weeks ago, the prices in 21224 have continued to go up, though certainly nothing like they had been. (Of course, this is heavily influenced by the number of homes bought, rehabbed, and then sold at a much higher price than what the rehabber obviously paid, so that is to be taken with a grain of salt)

So though things don't seem too bad in my area, for now anyway, it still surprised me to see Baltimore listed in the top 10. Thoughts?

[barante]

I think your area is lucky. A friend of mine, a retired judge, called a couple of days ago. They sold their $600,00+ home in Roland Park in four days. And to make everything even sweeter, they got a townhouse in an Atlanta development where nothing had been for sale.
The buyer, by the way, was an out-of-towner coming to Baltimore to head a Mount Vernon educational institution.

[helenejen]

So when I read the article and not just the sidebar, the actual Forbes rankings, which the Yahoo article includes and links to, has Baltimore listed as #8 on the worst-selling housing markets, which I have to say is bull when you compare the price decline and # of unsold homes to the other cities on that list. And Las Vegas doesn't even make the worst-selling list, which I find unbelievable!

But still I find it very funny, and so Baltimore in a way, that we are listed on both the best seller's market and the worst-selling markets on the very same page.

[carolott]

Originally Posted by helenejen

So when I read the article and not just the sidebar, the actual Forbes rankings, which the Yahoo article includes and links to, has Baltimore listed as #8 on the worst-selling housing markets, which I have to say is bull when you compare the price decline and # of unsold homes to the other cities on that list. And where the hell is Las Vegas on that list?

But still I find it very funny, and so Baltimore, that we are listed on both the best and worst lists on that Yahoo page.

I am inclined to lean towards the "worst" list. There is a huge number of houses on the market here, and a lot of them have been on the market several times...or continuously for a period of years....without selling. The number of foreclosures continues to climb, too.

[jonjj]

Our market is not the greatest but it is far better than many others across the country. The article doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me because Detroit isn't even listed in it and it has by far in the worst real estate slump in the country.

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by helenejen

So when I read the article and not just the sidebar, the actual Forbes rankings, which the Yahoo article includes and links to, has Baltimore listed as #8 on the worst-selling housing markets, which I have to say is bull when you compare the price decline and # of unsold homes to the other cities on that list. And Las Vegas doesn't even make the worst-selling list, which I find unbelievable!

I agree with you on that. Forbe's methodology for this list doesn't seem very meaningful. It excludes many cities where prices have plummeted but "investors" are buying houses thinking they're getting a bargain (many of them may be in for a real shock when they realize they didn't buy at the bottom).

Baltimore has by far the lowest percentage price decline and inventory for sale on that list. The fact that homes aren't selling means that prices will inevitably decline more than they have so far, but Baltimore seems to be in better shape than many cities--particularly those in the south and west--where there was massive overbuilding and the local economy was centered almost entirely around real estate development and businesses related to it.

The city was also dramatically undervalued compared to the suburbs and other nearby cities at the start of the boom, so I think a good portion of the price appreciation over the past few years was justified and not due solely to the nation's massive credit/debt bubble that has just begun to burst.