Real Estate Questions? What is the average price of homes selling?

[JennySquirrel]

That is true and with the interest rates creeping up, this is a great time to buy.

[hms1]

We have definitely hit bottom here (Venice FL) & now is the time to buy. I am not in real estate just read, keep track of our neighborhood etc

[asrivast]

How about properties in siesta keys.. Have they stabilized, on their way up or will they have more to fall? Any thoughts?

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by asrivast

How about properties in siesta keys.. Have they stabilized, on their way up or will they have more to fall? Any thoughts?

I don't believe they are falling in any nice desirable area of Sarasota, which would include Siesta Key. Here in my Whitfield neighborhood by the bay, almost all of the properties that were below $300,000 have been recently snapped up. They are definitely not falling. I'm sure SoFLGal can give you a more definitive answer though.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

I don't believe they are falling in any nice desirable area of Sarasota, which would include Siesta Key. Here in my Whitfield neighborhood by the bay, almost all of the properties that were below $300,000 have been recently snapped up. They are definitely not falling. I'm sure SoFLGal can give you a more definitive answer though.

You are correct Gypsychic! Most areas are stable right now and a few areas are rising.

[Peter the Brit]

IMHO prices are still going down and will as there are still more foreclosures in the Court system
Six to nine months should see the bottom but there are still some bargains out there to be had
Also IMHO guaging the exact time of the bottom is so imprecise it is best to move soon and not miss any bargains out there

[Scots]

The question at this point is, what are the price pressures and in what direction are they pushing? A lot of people have talked about a resetting of ARMs causing a jump in foreclosures, but as long as interest rates remain low this shouldn't be too much of a problem so shouldn't cause further downward pressure. On the other hand unemployment remains a major problem and that may well cause more defaults, which would generate downward pressure. Finally, there appears to be a large number of people sitting on property that they would like to sell but waiting for the market to stabilize. This has two effects-- it keeps prices up in highly desireable areas, but it also means that even when the market begins to recover, there will be over-supply, keeping prices down. So, there doesn't seem to be any great need to act hastily. Still, as others have said, exactly timing any bottom is impossible, and good properties at good prices are always a good investment. JMHO.

[firsttimeowner]

what are the stats in Hillsborough please and how come some homes on the market there have not dropped as they have in other areas. The realtor there told me there have not been very effected by the market decline. For example a house I saw that I liked sold for 250k in 2005 and they are asking 195k for it now. Can you explain?

Thanks

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Scots

The question at this point is, what are the price pressures and in what direction are they pushing? A lot of people have talked about a resetting of ARMs causing a jump in foreclosures, but as long as interest rates remain low this shouldn't be too much of a problem so shouldn't cause further downward pressure. On the other hand unemployment remains a major problem and that may well cause more defaults, which would generate downward pressure. Finally, there appears to be a large number of people sitting on property that they would like to sell but waiting for the market to stabilize. This has two effects-- it keeps prices up in highly desireable areas, but it also means that even when the market begins to recover, there will be over-supply, keeping prices down. So, there doesn't seem to be any great need to act hastily. Still, as others have said, exactly timing any bottom is impossible, and good properties at good prices are always a good investment. JMHO.

I agree. You can rattle your brain trying to figure out if you are going to save an extra nickle, and miss some tremendous opportunities. The whole market is way way way down, and will eventually recover. Everything goes in cycles, and we certainly aren't jumping in at the top of the market.

[darkbuddha]

Just a couple comments...

I don't know whether the market has bottomed, but people smarter and better informed in such things than me have told me so, including several area realtors, property brokers/investors, and flip-artists. But they have also said that only properties at certain price-points seem to be moving, even while others, also at their bottom, just can't find buyers with the income to support their purchase price (and related living costs).

On a related note, I have two true stories to share... one from a property investor and the other from our realtor:

Story #1: This property investor owns a $5m home on Siesta Key ($3m first, $2m second) and he simply walked into his mortgage holders and gave them his keys and said "this is where I'm at...". The mortgage holder gave him 2 years no payment and no interest on his second and reduced his first to a flat $12k/mo (down from $25k/mo). The moral? Apparently those that owe more money have more bargaining power with their bank/mortgage company.

Story #2: Another client of our realtor had been shopping for a vacation home on Siesta Key with its own dock and had been watching 2 properties for a couple months, both in the $1.9m-$2m range to see how low the prices would drop. Both lowered their price in the same week and were sold that same week before he even found out about the price reductions. Now he's on the hunt again and has found that there are far fewer such properties available than there were 4-6 months ago. The moral here? Apparently $1.75m is the right price for waterfront homes with a dock on Siesta.

My guess is that there will continue to be some deals out there, but they're only deals if you're an investor or if you're looking for whatever those deals are. We just bought a home in the Palm Aire area... it wasn't a deal, but it is a nice home where we want to live with all the stuff we wanted at a price we could afford (which wouldn't have been true a year or two ago), so in that sense, it is a deal. It's also a deal because we know the guy that flipped it is actually not making a dime on it (and is probably losing a few thousand on the sale). But then again, he wants the money out of it so he can buy another while the market is bottomed out (in his view).