News
01-17-2007, 03:32 AM
Tools for Real-Estate Investors
And Slumping Condo Prices
By Lauren Baier Kim
Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)
Inside info on neighborhoods, agents
Thinking about buying a home but have questions about the quality of the neighborhood? Ready to hire a real-estate agent, but want information from other home sellers about the agent's credentials? These questions and more potentially can be answered through a plethora of real-estate blogs, many of which gained visibility in 2006, says a CNNMoney.com article. For instance, Outside.in, created about two months ago, includes blogs from readers in 3,000 neighborhoods in 55 cities, according to CNNMoney.com. Posts include everything from the local real-estate scene to the weather to area restaurants and clubs. Another Web site, Homethinking.com, invites readers to rate their real-estate agents, CNNMoney.com says. Readers can search for their area by typing in their city and state, or by entering their zip code. Upon doing so, the site will list agents serving that area and reviews for local agents, if available. The site also notes how many listings an agent currently has and how many that agent has recently sold, agents' contact information, plus the dollar range of an agent's listings, noting the highest and lowest dollar amounts. Listing info includes homes' addresses, "advertised" prices, "sold" prices and dates, and the homes' locations on a local map.
Fewer flips in California
Speculators are retreating from California's housing market, in which sales are down and prices have leveled off, says a Los Angeles Daily News article. House flipping -- the practice of purchasing a home and quickly reselling it in the hopes of a profit -- is down to its lowest level in the state since 2003, the article says. Resales of homes owned for six months or less dropped from 4.2% in 2005 to 3.2% in 2006, the newspaper says. In 2003, these type of sales accounted for 2.4% of resales, Daily News says. Last year, flippers sold their properties for a median $45,000 above their purchase price, down from a median of $52,000 in 2005, the article says. The source of this data is from HomeSmartReports.com of San Juan Capistrano, the paper says. "Investors, if they can, have adopted a buy and hold strategy until prices come back up," the article quotes Steve Morgan, the company's senior vice president, as saying.
Condo market cools
As investors pull out of the housing market, condo prices are softening, says an article by NorthJersey.com. The national median condo price, which rose from $168,500 in 2003 to $223,900 in 2005, only rose slightly in 2006 to $224,600, the article says. In Northern New Jersey, average condo prices have dropped 5%, while condo developers slashed prices on new units by up to 25% last year, the Web site says. The median condo sales price for the third quarter of 2006 for the New York metropolitan area was $326,000, NorthJersey.com says. The article notes that because of the slowdown, some builders are focusing on developing rental units instead of condos, the article says. What to do if you have a condo you want to sell? Hold off and wait for the market to recover, the Web site suggests.
Investors bet on San Antonio neighborhood
Dignowity Hill, a historic district two miles east of downtown San Antonio, Texas, may become the city's next "it urban neighborhood," according to an Express-News article. Buyers are purchasing homes at about $85 per square foot to renovate and sell in the area, which is located on one of the city's highest points, the newspaper says. Among the incentives for these buyers are 10-year city-tax abatements for the renovation of historic homes, the article says. Dignowity Hill has been known for "house fires, drug dealing, robberies and other crimes," but local residents say the neighborhood is improving, Express-News says. A redevelopment project aimed at connecting the neighborhood via train to downtown over the Hays Street Bridge may also aid in Dignowity Hill's rebirth, the newspaper says. Says one investor quoted by the paper, "I feel positive enough about it that I didn't want to wait four years to buy there."
Mobile-home owners approve sale
Last week, residents of Briny Breezes, Fla, a 43-acre town sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, approved the sale of the community to a Boca Raton developer for $510 million, says an article published by the Orlando Sentinel. The town is run like a corporation and owners of the community's 488 homes each own shares in the town, based on their lot's size and location, the newspaper says. The sale was approved by 82% of the shares, with the sale to be made final in 2009, the article says. When the sale goes through, each homeowner will receive an average of $1 million for their property, while owners with small interior lots will get less, about $700,000 the article says.
Send links to articles about residential-real-estate markets to Lauren Kim at lauren.kim@wsj.com.
Email your comments to lauren.kim@wsj.com.
And Slumping Condo Prices
By Lauren Baier Kim
Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)
Inside info on neighborhoods, agents
Thinking about buying a home but have questions about the quality of the neighborhood? Ready to hire a real-estate agent, but want information from other home sellers about the agent's credentials? These questions and more potentially can be answered through a plethora of real-estate blogs, many of which gained visibility in 2006, says a CNNMoney.com article. For instance, Outside.in, created about two months ago, includes blogs from readers in 3,000 neighborhoods in 55 cities, according to CNNMoney.com. Posts include everything from the local real-estate scene to the weather to area restaurants and clubs. Another Web site, Homethinking.com, invites readers to rate their real-estate agents, CNNMoney.com says. Readers can search for their area by typing in their city and state, or by entering their zip code. Upon doing so, the site will list agents serving that area and reviews for local agents, if available. The site also notes how many listings an agent currently has and how many that agent has recently sold, agents' contact information, plus the dollar range of an agent's listings, noting the highest and lowest dollar amounts. Listing info includes homes' addresses, "advertised" prices, "sold" prices and dates, and the homes' locations on a local map.
Fewer flips in California
Speculators are retreating from California's housing market, in which sales are down and prices have leveled off, says a Los Angeles Daily News article. House flipping -- the practice of purchasing a home and quickly reselling it in the hopes of a profit -- is down to its lowest level in the state since 2003, the article says. Resales of homes owned for six months or less dropped from 4.2% in 2005 to 3.2% in 2006, the newspaper says. In 2003, these type of sales accounted for 2.4% of resales, Daily News says. Last year, flippers sold their properties for a median $45,000 above their purchase price, down from a median of $52,000 in 2005, the article says. The source of this data is from HomeSmartReports.com of San Juan Capistrano, the paper says. "Investors, if they can, have adopted a buy and hold strategy until prices come back up," the article quotes Steve Morgan, the company's senior vice president, as saying.
Condo market cools
As investors pull out of the housing market, condo prices are softening, says an article by NorthJersey.com. The national median condo price, which rose from $168,500 in 2003 to $223,900 in 2005, only rose slightly in 2006 to $224,600, the article says. In Northern New Jersey, average condo prices have dropped 5%, while condo developers slashed prices on new units by up to 25% last year, the Web site says. The median condo sales price for the third quarter of 2006 for the New York metropolitan area was $326,000, NorthJersey.com says. The article notes that because of the slowdown, some builders are focusing on developing rental units instead of condos, the article says. What to do if you have a condo you want to sell? Hold off and wait for the market to recover, the Web site suggests.
Investors bet on San Antonio neighborhood
Dignowity Hill, a historic district two miles east of downtown San Antonio, Texas, may become the city's next "it urban neighborhood," according to an Express-News article. Buyers are purchasing homes at about $85 per square foot to renovate and sell in the area, which is located on one of the city's highest points, the newspaper says. Among the incentives for these buyers are 10-year city-tax abatements for the renovation of historic homes, the article says. Dignowity Hill has been known for "house fires, drug dealing, robberies and other crimes," but local residents say the neighborhood is improving, Express-News says. A redevelopment project aimed at connecting the neighborhood via train to downtown over the Hays Street Bridge may also aid in Dignowity Hill's rebirth, the newspaper says. Says one investor quoted by the paper, "I feel positive enough about it that I didn't want to wait four years to buy there."
Mobile-home owners approve sale
Last week, residents of Briny Breezes, Fla, a 43-acre town sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, approved the sale of the community to a Boca Raton developer for $510 million, says an article published by the Orlando Sentinel. The town is run like a corporation and owners of the community's 488 homes each own shares in the town, based on their lot's size and location, the newspaper says. The sale was approved by 82% of the shares, with the sale to be made final in 2009, the article says. When the sale goes through, each homeowner will receive an average of $1 million for their property, while owners with small interior lots will get less, about $700,000 the article says.
Send links to articles about residential-real-estate markets to Lauren Kim at lauren.kim@wsj.com.
Email your comments to lauren.kim@wsj.com.