April 2011 Real Estate Market Update (homes, move, property)

[skids929]

Originally Posted by mikeh19468

look at the bright side. At least you don't live a mile away from comanche creek right now (says the guy who lives a mile away from the limerick nuclear plant, and will be putting his house on the market for sale/lease/rent next month)...

lol

[txtoal]

Originally Posted by mikeh19468

Look at the bright side. At least you don't live a mile away from Comanche Creek right now (says the guy who lives a mile away from the Limerick Nuclear Plant, and will be putting his house on the market for sale/lease/rent next month)...

I think you mean Comanche Peak. The plants at Comanche look nothing like the ones in Limerick, where they can emit water vapor and you can see it for miles. Granted, I wouldn't want to live somewhere where my view would be obstructed by some huge towers.

[mikeh19468]

Originally Posted by txtoal

I think you mean Comanche Peak.

Blame MSNBC's map for being wrong...

[txtoal]

Originally Posted by mikeh19468

Blame MSNBC's map for being wrong...

MSNBC can't even get their s**t straight. That's why I take what the media has to say with a grain of salt.

[Lakewooder]

The Real Estate Report in the current Lakewood Advocate shows the average sales price in Lakewood Proper (subsection 7) jumping from $584,312 in February 2010 to $789,104 in February 2011.

It's probably an anomaly with some high-priced estates selling, but then again it shows how hyper-local the markets are - this area is also included in MLS Area 12 which not only covers all of East Dallas (both sides of the lake) but also a large section of South Dallas. Those are very different areas.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

The Real Estate Report in the current Lakewood Advocate shows the average sales price in Lakewood Proper (subsection 7) jumping from $584,312 in February 2010 to $789,104 in February 2011.

It's probably an anomaly with some high-priced estates selling, but then again it shows how hyper-local the markets are - this area is also included in MLS Area 12 which not only covers all of East Dallas (both sides of the lake) but also a large section of South Dallas. Those are very different areas.

It's definitely an anomaly with only 15 sales in 2010 and 23 sales in 2011 used as a comparison. Why not call out the more relevant data? Price per square foot. It dropped from $208.31 in 2010 to $201.71 in 2011 - a drop of 3.1%.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Lakewooder

The Real Estate Report in the current Lakewood Advocate shows the average sales price in Lakewood Proper (subsection 7) jumping from $584,312 in February 2010 to $789,104 in February 2011.

It's probably an anomaly with some high-priced estates selling, but then again it shows how hyper-local the markets are - this area is also included in MLS Area 12 which not only covers all of East Dallas (both sides of the lake) but also a large section of South Dallas. Those are very different areas.

My family member who was at the Park Cities area MLS tour earlier this week said that $1M+ home sales continue to be brisk. The wealthy buyer is finally buying- and a lot of them using cash. That seems to be propping up some of the avg sales vs LY (when wealthy buyers were still on sidelines) in the more expensive neighborhoods.

[catluvr]

Everyone believes the market is in the tank here in Texas and expects to get everything for nothing. Quit watching CNN and lowballing sellers. Realtors are trying to get people to sell homes valued at 237K for 217K. Sellers should not accept these ridiculous offers. We have a realtor that calls himself the "neighborhood specialist" who likes to devalue houses then offer himself a bonus if he sells in less than a month. He tells you your home is worth 20K less than what you paid, markets the house at that price and he gets himself a substantial bonus check from the seller. Come on...TX is NOT like the rest of the US (Las Vegas, Seattle, Minneapolis, Florida and a few other states). ...If only everyone would quit undervaluing DFW homes! Luckily everyone in our subdivision caught on and no longer uses him.

There is all kinds of crazy stuff going on right now with the housing market.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by catluvr

Everyone believes the market is in the tank here in Texas and expects to get everything for nothing. Quit watching CNN and lowballing sellers. Realtors are trying to get people to sell homes valued at 237K for 217K. Sellers should not accept these ridiculous offers. We have a realtor that calls himself the "neighborhood specialist" who likes to devalue houses then offer himself a bonus if he sells in less than a month. He tells you your home is worth 20K less than what you paid, markets the house at that price and he gets himself a substantial bonus check from the seller. Come on...TX is NOT like the rest of the US (Las Vegas, Seattle, Minneapolis, Florida and a few other states). ...If only everyone would quit undervaluing DFW homes! Luckily everyone in our subdivision caught on and no longer uses him.

There is all kinds of crazy stuff going on right now with the housing market.

If these homes were purposely "undervalued" by the tune of $20k+, then there would be multiple bids driving the selling price up to/ closer to the "true" value. If in your neighborhood the homes are selling for or under the "undervalued" price, then I hate to tell you that it's not undervalued.
Market price is what buyers buy for & what sellers sell for. Not a $ more or less.

[loves2read]

check out the date on this article--
if people had read it and actually acted on the info in it--some people would not have been hurt personally but the crash overall would not have been avoided
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/bu...gewanted=print

Note the irony in this section:
Japanese economists say the United States is not likely to suffer a decline that is as severe or long-lasting as Japan's, because they see a more skilled hand at the tiller of the American economy: the Federal Reserve. Japan's central bank, the Bank of Japan, failed to curb the stock and real estate bubbles until mid-1989, when it was too late and prices were sky-high, they said.

When it did take action, it moved faster and more drastically than Japan's overinflated land and stock markets could handle, raising its benchmark interest rate to 6 percent from 2.5 percent over 15 months. Economists say that this pulled the rug out from under both markets at the same time.


When our Fed was actually in collusion with the powers creating the problem by keeping interest rates artificially low--just as now--
the rate stayed at 6% for about a year and then started dropping which only fueled the rush to invest in tangible assets like real estate (IMO) as something that would gain in value vs lower in value
File:Federal Funds Rate 1954 thru 2009 effective.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rental prices have gone up in DFW area--that is factor that has to be taken into account when you decided whether or not you should rent vs buy home
other personal factors can't be ignored--
some people are in better shape financially than others--they have different dynamics shaping their lives--
I don't think anyone should buy a house here who expects to be transferred or whose marriage is not on the best ground (sometimes hard to tell)
if you think you will need a larger home in 3 yrs you should buy THAT house now because the cost of buying/selling two homes in three years is going to be higher than what you might pay in slightly higher taxes or utilities in same time frame

People have said that home prices in Dallas were more stable--and while we might not have seen an overall increase like Las Vegas or Phoenix in prices--there were some areas that did see very dynamic increase in home prices--
we were looking for new home to move to around 2006 and because we had no time line to find one we took our time--
sticker shock was one factor because we had been in same house for 20 yrs and our neighborhood saw little value appreciation--
there were some homes we looked at that were seeing almost a 100% increase in appreciation from their build cost--a 200K house originally was listed for 400--mainly because of the land's value--
and there were some homes -- new construction--that started out at 375 and sold for over 425--and in couple of years went on market and sold at 600K--
that did not happen in ALL markets in DFW--but Colleyville and Southlake and some parts of Keller saw that type of appreciation--
that was one factor that kept us from buying--we thought homes were just overpriced--and weren't going to get into a bidding war

some people who bought at that high point in market are now stuck with house that is "overpriced"--they might be underwater on their mortgages depending on what the downpayment was--
and would lose money especially considering the fees/costs associated with selling a house--including refurbishing an older home
people who are in the best shape to sell are those who are original owners of home 8-10 yrs old wiht some upgrading who made good downpayment and got reasonable mortgage rate--even some people with adjustable mortgages have benefitted from the downturn in interest rates--
as long as their neighborhood has held property values and schools are still good--
and there are some areas where that is not the case--