The Rhode Island Association of Realtors released November  sales this week, despite September and Octobers gains, single family homes were  down 16.05 % from November, 2007. The bright spot is in the muti-family sector, which saw sales increase by nearly 50%, this is a sign that investors  and first-time buyers are definitley returning to the market.

 Here is a summary of the findings: 

• The median price of a single family home dropped 23.58% to $202,500
• 168 of the 455 sales were sold as short sales or through foreclosure.
• The median price of the 287 remaining was $242,000.
• The median sales price dropped from $217,250 to $198,000 and the number of units sold fell 54.7 %
• 52 of the 67 sales involved short sales or foreclosures.
• Multi-family properties saw a fall in median price from $215,000 to $105,000
• The number of multi-family properties sold increased 45.9 % to 143 properties compared to the November 2007 level of 98.
• 111 of the 143 sales were distressed sales.

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

Hopefully, this is a small blip in in the trend of increased sales that we were seeing in September and October.  Preliminary sales data for December show single family home sales up year over year.

 

 Listen to this week's show here: [47:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 If you are a regular listener to Real Estate Insight, you already know that one of my favorite lines when people ask me to predict the state of the market in the near future is “if I only had a crystal ball….”  While the immediate outlook looks pretty bleak, I think that the bulk of uncertainty is behind us.  We have a new administration that seems to be proactive about the money crisis, and the fact that we have acknowledged the recession means that we can stop fretting and finally do something about it.  Rich, Steve and I put our heads together and came up with these trends for 2009

• Prices will continue to decline in the worst hit areas, California, Nevada, Michigan, and bottom out in most others. Combined with historically low interest rates, it is a great time for the first time buyers to finally get in the game
• Realistic Sellers will take their homes off the market if they can’t get their price, this will result in less inventory, but the glut of distressed properties will keep downward pressure on prices.
• With limited inventory and under-market pricing on foreclosures, buyers unwilling to deal with the inherent problems of forclosed properties (deferred maintenence, dealing with the lenders) will find themselves competing over the ‘good’ listings.
• The foreclosure crisis has created wiser consumers, with a deeper understanding of real estate, mortgages, and credit enabling better decision-making going forward. There will be more transparency in lending practices, and the new administration will  crack down on abusive lending practices.
• More home owners will lose their homes in 2009 to foreclosure and need to rent, which will put upward pressure on rental rates.
• Green features will become more important. Increasing numbers of buyers will opt for smaller homes that are within walking distance of school and work, and energy efficient features will increasingly influence home purchases.
• The internet will continue to outpace print media for effective real estate marketing. Buyers and sellers are becoming more and more tech savvy; tools like video, webcasts, and mobile search will become more and more common.

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

Job loss will be the biggest hindrance to a housing recovery; you can’t buy a house if you don’t have a job. Hopefully, Obama has a plan for that as well

 

 Listen to this week's show here [48:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download