Do you think we're seeing a housing bubble? (Pittsburgh, Denver: cheap house, buyer)

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

But wouldn't that also likely make your existing house worth less? Unless your intent is to sell now, move into a rental, and buy later (a strategy which has its own host of financial questions to answer), why would it matter?

Oddly enough, I don’t think I’d sell my house for much of a profit. The mostsimilar homes are only selling for about 30-50k more than I paid. We also renovated the kitchen last year, and I don’t think I would get a good return on that investment

[spoonman109]

my experience from selling a house in a different area and then buying one in the Pittsburgh region. I bought in North Hills suburbs is that the list prices people want here are outrageous and at first were a little confusing from someone moving in from outside the area hearing about "cheap housing" in the Pittsburgh area. I think the realtors here need their head examined.

The house I bought for just over 400 was listed for 570! My neighbors was listed for close to 600 and sold for 425. Another we looked at was listed for 375 and it says pending on zillow for 305 so it prob sold for that or less.

The actual selling prices were more in line with what I expected but it was a bit confusing at first seeing all these 500+ numbers for dated 80's houses.

In NJ where I moved from the houses will sell for right around the list price. Here it's like they throw out some insane number and then wait a year and sell it for 100K+ less. I think people out here got their first taste of house appreciation and lost their mind.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by spoonman109

my experience from selling a house in a different area and then buying one in the Pittsburgh region. I bought in North Hills suburbs is that the list prices people want here are outrageous and at first were a little confusing from someone moving in from outside the area hearing about "cheap housing" in the Pittsburgh area. I think the realtors here need their head examined.

The house I bought for just over 400 was listed for 570! My neighbors was listed for close to 600 and sold for 425. Another we looked at was listed for 375 and it says pending on zillow for 305 so it prob sold for that or less.

The actual selling prices were more in line with what I expected but it was a bit confusing at first seeing all these 500+ numbers for dated 80's houses.

In NJ where I moved from the houses will sell for right around the list price. Here it's like they throw out some insane number and then wait a year and sell it for 100K+ less. I think people out here got their first taste of house appreciation and lost their mind.

After further examination, I’m inclined to agree with you. Houses that I saw listed for 700,000 are selling for 525k, which is more in line with my expectation of Pittsburgh housing prices.

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by spoonman109

my experience from selling a house in a different area and then buying one in the Pittsburgh region. I bought in North Hills suburbs is that the list prices people want here are outrageous and at first were a little confusing from someone moving in from outside the area hearing about "cheap housing" in the Pittsburgh area. I think the realtors here need their head examined.

The house I bought for just over 400 was listed for 570! My neighbors was listed for close to 600 and sold for 425. Another we looked at was listed for 375 and it says pending on zillow for 305 so it prob sold for that or less.

The actual selling prices were more in line with what I expected but it was a bit confusing at first seeing all these 500+ numbers for dated 80's houses.

In NJ where I moved from the houses will sell for right around the list price. Here it's like they throw out some insane number and then wait a year and sell it for 100K+ less. I think people out here got their first taste of house appreciation and lost their mind.

a Zillow "pending" status doesn't tell you what its under contract for, or what the final price will be. You'll have to wait to see that after its closed. what is the address of this one if you don't mind sharing?

im not sure what areas you are dealing in exactly, but a lot of the north suburbs McMansion style plans have seen basically zero appreciation over the past 5 years. A lot of plans that were mostly made up of 500-700k homes 10 years ago, still sell for around the same prices. I figure this to be because a lot of them are 20 years old or a little more, and they are starting to look pretty dated compared to modern new construction standards. It cost quite s good bit of money to fully update a 4000+ sq ft home. New(er) construction starts to look more enticing when looking in the 500k+ price ranges.

there are definitely people out there trying to push the market higher, but the vast majority of listings sell within 10% of the initial price in our current market. The stuff under 300k tends to be within 5%.

[safak]

very anecdotal. I'm not looking it up but I would bet a small fortune the sales price to list price ration in Allegheny-North is well over 95% over the past 5 years. You and your neighbor are not the norm.

[Knepper3]

Yeah that is out of the norm and really points to poor pricing to start. This is the MLS and includes many areas outside Pgh which are more likely to go below list but you can see we are well above 95% for some time.

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by spoonman109

my experience from selling a house in a different area and then buying one in the Pittsburgh region. I bought in North Hills suburbs is that the list prices people want here are outrageous and at first were a little confusing from someone moving in from outside the area hearing about "cheap housing" in the Pittsburgh area. I think the realtors here need their head examined.

The house I bought for just over 400 was listed for 570! My neighbors was listed for close to 600 and sold for 425. Another we looked at was listed for 375 and it says pending on zillow for 305 so it prob sold for that or less.

The actual selling prices were more in line with what I expected but it was a bit confusing at first seeing all these 500+ numbers for dated 80's houses.

In NJ where I moved from the houses will sell for right around the list price. Here it's like they throw out some insane number and then wait a year and sell it for 100K+ less. I think people out here got their first taste of house appreciation and lost their mind.

A couple of reasons for this. first, people who talk about how cheap Pittsburgh is in housing are mostly probably looking at older houses in the untrendy parts of the city or older suburbs. Or they're talking about averages, which skew lower due to lots of small older housing in the area. If you're looking at more modern houses with larger yards in newer developments (in Pittsburgh this can mean even 1980s era houses), its only going to be cheap compared to big cities closer to the coasts, or resort type areas.


Second thing - NJ has ridiculous property taxes most places, so that keeps the house prices down, because otherwise there would be no buyers who could afford the taxes at higher prices.

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by spoonman109

my experience from selling a house in a different area and then buying one in the Pittsburgh region. I bought in North Hills suburbs is that the list prices people want here are outrageous and at first were a little confusing from someone moving in from outside the area hearing about "cheap housing" in the Pittsburgh area. I think the realtors here need their head examined.

The house I bought for just over 400 was listed for 570! My neighbors was listed for close to 600 and sold for 425. Another we looked at was listed for 375 and it says pending on zillow for 305 so it prob sold for that or less.

The actual selling prices were more in line with what I expected but it was a bit confusing at first seeing all these 500+ numbers for dated 80's houses.

In NJ where I moved from the houses will sell for right around the list price. Here it's like they throw out some insane number and then wait a year and sell it for 100K+ less. I think people out here got their first taste of house appreciation and lost their mind.

This is just an uncommon anecdote. In my neighborhood in the north hills, the average house is now selling for slightly over list price.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by PGH423

This is just an uncommon anecdote. In my neighborhood in the north hills, the average house is now selling for slightly over list price.

north hills is such a useless term as some people include cranberry in the mix. i generally think of "north hills as the older, more established areas north of the city between bellevue and fox chapel and up to pine

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by _Buster

A couple of reasons for this. first, people who talk about how cheap Pittsburgh is in housing are mostly probably looking at older houses in the untrendy parts of the city or older suburbs. Or they're talking about averages, which skew lower due to lots of small older housing in the area. If you're looking at more modern houses with larger yards in newer developments (in Pittsburgh this can mean even 1980s era houses), its only going to be cheap compared to big cities closer to the coasts, or resort type areas.


Second thing - NJ has ridiculous property taxes most places, so that keeps the house prices down, because otherwise there would be no buyers who could afford the taxes at higher prices.

Another reason is that the average joe doesn't keep up with the real estate market. They think their $85,000 purchase in 2004 is still relevant.